Although most people understand the significant threat that identity theft poses to adults in the US are much surprised to discover that the fastest growing segment of identity theft victims are children.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that nearly 5% of all identity theft victims in 2005 were aged under 18 This may not seem a lot at first glance eye, but when you consider that there were an estimated 255,000 victims of identity theft in the United States this year and that the number of abused children increased by 40% from just two years moreover, it is easy to see that this is a segment that is growing at an alarming rate.
We here at NextAdvisor.com were certainly shocked by these statistics and decided that the best way we can help is by accumulating a series of simple tips, achievable that parents could use to protect their children become victims of this debilitating crime. From today our "Child Identity Theft Protection Guide" is available on our website.
In addition to compile a series of do-it-yourself steps that parents can take to prevent identity theft, we also spent many hours examining various identity theft protection services. In particular, we found that LifeLock had the best overall protection of identity theft for children. LifeLock took their leading identity protection service industry against theft and tailored to the needs of protecting the identity of children.
Ultimately, if parents decide to follow eight tips we've set out or use a service like LifeLock, the most important thing is that the awareness of the growing threat of identity theft pose to children. We sincerely hope that consumers will find this information useful and that people take a moment to share our "Guide Identity Protection flying childhood" with each parent they know.
If you have questions or comments, or if you have additional identity theft prevention tips or resources that we should include in our guide, please let us know by leaving a message in the comments below.