Identity Theft Targets Children

As we all know, Identity theft has become a major concern among people for a couple of years now but what we don’t know is that one of the highest demographic growths for identity thefts are kids.

At birth, most countries give children their own social security numbers and credit reports and since these information seem meaningless at the moment, most identity thieves take this opportunity to change certain specifications in your child’s information. An Identity thief will assume the details of your child and since it is a blank slate the thief can easily obtain credit cards and other financial needs.

The problem is, when the child grows up and looks for a way to get his or her credit cards and other financial statements fixed their credit report will reflect negative information that has been long stated in their record.

Imagine how hard it is to get a negative report that has been there for 10 to 20 years. It would require a lot of work just to get the records straight meanwhile the child will have to struggle to get a credit card and acquire any kind of credit loan.

Since I don’t want it this to happen to anyone I have listed valuable information to prevent this from happening to you.

So how does Identity Theft Work – Especially for children whose credit reports are still blank?

Basically the Identity thieves will get the social security number of the child and find out other identity information using this number. They will then change this information and use it to apply loans, credit cards and spend money in different kinds of things. Most cases it is harder to identify new accounts used through this method.

The simplest way to make sure that your child doesn’t suffer form identity theft is to check their Credit Reports. You must constantly monitor this and it can be done annually or bi-annually.

An important factor to also consider is to never give out your child’s SSN number unless they are the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Also never carry the person’s number with you at all times. Leave it in a secure location and just make sure to take it out when you need it.

Plus, you should also teach your children (when they’re old enough) to never give out their SSN number to anyone unless it is absolutely required and only if you tell them to.

Another thing to consider is to show them sample credit reports and discuss with them that any of their personal information should not be disclosed to anyone they do not know to prevent any kind of identity theft.

Most of the time, identity theft for children are resolved quicker than the ones in adults since the time discrepancy and their credit reports will not match, they are given faster clearance than their adult counterparts.

However, this doesn’t mean that everything will go smoothly for them since it will still take them around 6 months to 2 years to clear their name properly. So as a parent, it’s your responsibility to protect your child to any kind of identity theft that may put his/her future in Jeopardy.

LifeLock offers Identity theft protection for children under the age of 16 for a mere $22.50/year (with promo code budget) with an adult subscription. Get your kids protected!