Child Identity Theft
As crazy as it sounds, your kid's identity is vulnerable to identity theft. In some ways, even more vulnerable that yours!
Unlike adults, children's credit scores are rarely monitored and that gives a thief the perfect cover to use your child's social security number to apply for government benefits, open bank accounts, credit card accounts, apply for loans or even rent a place to live.
How these thieves acquire sensitive information enabling them to commit the above offenses is anyone's guess because the means are various. There are online forms that can be easily hacked, bought and then sold on the black market. Your own personal computer or email may be hacked. School forms that require sensitive information are often discarded improperly. Nowadays, signing a kid up for summer camp requires everything down to your child's blood type!
The only thing we can do as parents to protect our child's identify is to stay on top of it. First, take steps to protect their identity. Never share your child's social security number unless you trust the other party. Shred all documents that have your child's personal information noted before throwing them away. Ask 3rd parties what they do with the documents you have given them after they are done with them.
Heed all warning signs and immediately react. Are you getting credit card offers or other inappropriate mail in your kid's name? Have you been turned down for government benefits because it is already being paid out to a different account? Have you received a collection notice or other bills directed to your child? Have you received notice of a breach or break in at your school or doctor's office? Did you lose a wallet or purse that contained paperwork that has your child's social security information? These are all red flags.
First thing to do is check your child's credit. Go to TransUnion Child Identity Theft Inquiry Form. Have a copy of the child's birth certificate and Social Security card ready.
If you find a problem, report the problem immediately.
Repairing the damage is a lot of work but it must be done. Contact each Credit Reporting agency and notify them of the misuse. Ask each company to remove all accounts, account inquiries, and collection notices from any file associated with your child's name and Social Security number.
Contact every business where your child's information was misused. Ask each business to close the fraudulent account and flag it to show it resulted from identity theft.
Place a Fraud Alert on your child's credit report.
And then monitor, monitor, monitor. Most likely, you have some time before your child applies for their first job, applies for a loan for a car or tuition or needs to rent an apartment. And hopefully if you are vigilant up to that time, they will have a much easier time navigating these milestones.
