Child Identity Theft

Child identity theft is an attractive crime for thieves looking to steal someones identity. If an imposter gets ahold of your information and that of your child, the thief will ALWAYS choose your childs over yours.

A child's personal information is always better for a criminal to use because children have no credit history, no history of personal loans, mortgages, or criminal activity. If a thief wanted to apply for a credit card or a job in the name of a child, chances are they would have no opposition. However, if a thief stole the identity of an adult with a poor credit history or criminal background, the thief would not have many options as far as getting new credit in the name of their victim. For this reason, child identity theft is better for the criminals, but if you take steps to protect their identity, you should have no trouble worrying about child identity theft.

So if you hear statistics about the growing problem of child identity theft, dont get too alarmed. In reality the same principles of identity theft protection for adults apply to children too. The only reason why child identity theft is a more shocking crime is because in 66% of the cases of child identity theft, the parents are the thieves!

Sounds hard to believe, but there are some real scumbags out there. Most parents who steal their child's identity do so because of severe financial hardship. Often the parents will use their childs social security number to apply for new credit to help pay off bills and large debts. Whats even more shocking is that many of theses thieves dont think they are engaging in fraudulent or illegal activity. They think they have a certain right to use their children as means of accessing more money and think eventually they will be able to pay off the debts now under the name of their children.

The victims of child identity theft, whether it occurred by an outside imposter or their own parents, will not realize the problem until YEARS later. Only when the victim has reached the age where they begin using credit to purcahase a car loan or mortgage will they discover a problem. Depending on the severity of the debt the imposter has incurred, the victim may struggle to clear their name and credit for a long time.

Can you imagine going to purchase your first car, shortly after you learn to drive, then realize your credit is destroyed and makes you incapable of getting that dream car?

Fortunatly there are things you can do as a parent to prevent your child's credit from being ruined.

1. Once a year check your child's credit report

Sounds crazy because people DONT HAVE reports until they actually get a credit card later in life. Well, this is the idea behind monitoring your childs credit. When you ask the credit bureau for a report, they SHOULD tell you "this person has no credit report." Those are the words you want to hear. This means your child has no established credit and no credit applications were made in their name.

If there is a credit report on your child, that's trouble. A credit report on a child is a clear sign that applications for credit were given to the child and a thief is using that credit for their own benefit. At this point you would need to begin the process for identity theft recovery.

2. Safeguard your child's personal information

Do not give your child's personal information to a suspicious or uncommon third party. Of course you'll have to give their information to a doctors office, school, and maybe church, but I'd be hesitant to give it to anyone else.

3. Look for credit applications in your child's name

If you notice a credit application or credit statement in the mail that is in the name of your child, this may be the first sign of child identity theft. Keep a close eye on the mail that your child receives. If it is a bill, or credit application, check their credit immediately for fraudulent activity.

4. Use the same identity theft prevention tips you'd use on yourself!

There really is no major difference between identity theft prevention for adults and children. Use the same prevention strategy on your child as you would yourself.

More tips on identity theft prevention

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