Though identity theft is nothing new, its focus on children is a recent development. An increasing number of identity theft cases involve the identity of a child. Since most parents do not run credit checks on their children, the issue goes unnoticed until the child applies for college loans or purchases a home.
It can be six years before a child identity theft case is noticed. Parents can identify and address an issue much sooner by running a credit check on their children every six months.
Unfortunately, a family member is sometimes the person stealing the child’s identity due to his or her own poor credit. Rather than applying for bad credit auto financing, the person gets a better deal by using the untarnished credit standing of a related child.
Parents should also be cautious about providing the Social Security numbers of their children. They should only do so when necessary and should verify that the requestor is legitimate.
People can steal Social Security numbers to apply for things like payday loans and never pay back the money, burdening an unsuspecting child.
The personal information of a child should never be released to a less than reputable family member. This person could use the details to apply for a credit card and accumulate thousands of dollars in cash advances in the name of the child.
It is troublesome enough to deal with a stranger regarding this issue, let alone a relative.
Children should be able to live a worry-free life, not thinking about who may be stealing their identity. Unscrupulous individuals have now made this impossible so parents should take a proactive approach to protecting the identity of their children.
This involves semiannual credit checks, careful distribution of the Social Security number, and immediate filing of a police report when identity theft is suspected.
