Child Identity Theft: Risk Growing with Your Child

The newest, easiest target for identity theft lies in a surprising place - your child’s pristine credit history. Theft of this kind goes undetected for years, not coming to light until the child has grown and is applying for his/her own credit. The consequences are sobering: a damaged credit history can prevent our children from obtaining student loans for college, finding good jobs and a place to live.  More seriously, identity theft can lead to medical errors or wrongful arrests.

Schools, pediatric medical offices, and even the foster care system are goldmines of information for savvy thieves. In some cases, children are issued Social Security Numbers that were compromised years before their birth.

These SSN’s are sold to people with bad credit and to illegal immigrants in order to secure employment and driver’s licenses. Last year, 8 percent of all identity theft complaints within the US come from victims 19 years of age and younger. The actual frequency of theft is probably higher, considering most parents aren’t monitoring their child’s credit report. In some instances, the theft is even being perpetrated by family members to start new lives or pay bills.

To protect our children’s financial future:

• Don’t carry your child’s social security card around with you.
• Be discriminating when asked for your child’s social security number.  If it has to be provided, find out how it will be stored. If it will not be retained, find out how it will be destroyed or returned.  
• Cross-shred documents containing personal information before disposing of them. 
• Don’t provide personal information online. Date of birth, place of birth, address and mother’s maiden name are all pieces of a puzzle that thieves can use to steal an identity. 
• Don’t give your child their Social Security number until they are old enough to understand how and why to protect it.

To get a free child scan, go to www.allclearid.com/child.

Editor: Lynette Baker is a spokeswoman for RethinkingDebt.org, a nonprofit that provides credit counseling and financial advice with offices in Hauppauge.