Have you ever thought that your own 2 month old child could be a victim of identity theft? Or how about your nine year old? Well, maybe you should think twice because it is becoming more common. Infants/children are perfect targets for identity theft merely because the theft will not be discovered until a long time later, like for instance, when the child grows up and is ready to get a loan for college. The media is becoming flooded with personal stories of child identity theft.

Here’s a shocker…

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center more than half of the child identity thieves come from the child’s own family! Here is a warning list of ways that someone can use your child’s identity and reasons as to why it works:

1. Utility bills – often indicated as a new tenant

2. Credit card applications – clean slate = good credit

3. Claim your children on taxes – receive more money back when claiming dependents

4. Loans – use social security number and fake identification

5. Driver’s license – when revoked, often a child’s SSN will be used in retrieving a new one

*A child’s record is clean, therefore making it easy to use in obtaining various loans/offers.

** Note that not only family members are able to obtain this information about your child. Often Social Security numbers are stolen by strangers as well.

Tips for Prevention:

1. Do NOT carry ANY social security cards in your purse/wallet—whether it be your own or your child’s.

2. Always make sure that you receive your child’s or any requested social security card in the mail.

3. Do not give you child’s social security number to the school. It is not required.

4. Only give out social security numbers when necessary.

5. You may think this is silly, but check your child’s credit report once a year. To make it easy, check it at the same time you check yours. To be even more self-sufficient, check both yours and your child’s credit report every four months.

6. Do not give your child their social security card or teach them the number unless it is completely necessary. Usually an individual does not need to know it until they are in college or the workforce.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 31st, 2006 at 6:52 pm and is filed under Credit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.