Imagine your child defaults on a mortgage, racks up thousands of dollars in credit card bills, and gets pulled over for speeding, all before the tender age of five.
Increasingly, it’s become all too common as identity thieves put children in their crosshairs. All a criminal needs is your child’s social security number. The scammers combine the social security number with a different name and date of birth to create a new identity, one which they can then use to secure loans and other lines of credit.
Unfortunately, children are the perfect targets. Their credit histories are blank slates with no blemishes, until the identity thief gets hold of them. And because few people have reason to check a child’s credit report, the crime can go unnoticed for years.
It’s only after a child has grown up and is denied a credit card, an apartment, or even a student loan does she realize her identity has been stolen. By this time it’s too late. The damage has been done.
A report by Carnegie Mellon professor Richard Power, in conjunction with credit protection agency All Clear ID, examined incidences of child identity theft and estimated that more than 10% of children could have someone else using their social security number.
In one case, 12 people were found using a 17-year-old boy’s social security number to obtain credit, utilities, and employment. The impostors racked up over $58,000 in bad debt including a $38,000 car note, thousands in unpaid rent, and over $23,000 in unpaid credit card bills. In another case, it was found that a 17-year-old girl had been victimized by eight different people who created over $725,000 in debt using her social security number.
So what can you do to protect your children? First and foremost keep your child’s social security number safe. Secure it with other important documents, and never carry it around in your wallet.
Also, be judicious with whom you share your child’s social security number. Just because a form asks for it doesn’t automatically mean you have to provide it. Soccer camps, little leagues, and after school programs, for instance, simply don’t need to know your child’s social security number, even if they request it.
Ask your pediatrician if your child’s social security number is needed. If so ask why and inquire as to how the information is stored, secured, and ultimately discarded. Similarly, check with your school district to see how they safeguard your child’s information.
Finally, it pays to periodically check with the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax – 1800-525-6285; Experian – 1-888-397-3742; TransUnion – [email protected]) to see if there is a credit file associated with your child’s social security number. A file will exist only if someone has opened a credit account using your child’s social security number.
Remember, a little diligence today may save your child a ton of heartache tomorrow.
BMWK, have you automatically given out a social security number because an official asked for it or because it was requested on a form?
kizzy says
Freeze your child’s credit with all three credit bureaus. It cost only $10 dollars to do this. What this does is lock out anyone from opening credit or even obtaining a credit report. Once a child is of age he/she can simply pay $10 dollars to unlock his/her credit. I say lock because a special passcode would be created(only you will know what it is). Once created no-one will have access to your child’s credit. This can be done for us adults too. I have mine frozen and only unfreeze it to make large credit purchases( a home,car etc.)