eight simple tips to prevent your children from becoming victims of the fastest growing crime in America
You already know that identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the US, but you have probably not realized that the fastest growing segment of identity theft victims are children.
The FTC reports that 5% of the 255,000 victims of identity theft in 2005, the most recent year for which data was available on the subject, were aged under 18. The number of victims is up 40% compared to 3% in 2003. most of these cases occur early with more than half occurring before the age of 6 according to the Identity Theft Resource Center.
The awareness seems to be the biggest problem to help prevent the child's identity theft. A recent Experian-Gallup poll found that 68% of respondents had heard little or nothing about identity theft crimes against children. But this does not mean that children do not fall victim to identity thieves at a rapid pace. The same survey found that 7% of respondents knew a child who had been victim of identity theft.
Identity theft perpetrated against children can be particularly debilitating because it is often years or decades after the crime occurs that the victim becomes aware. There are hundreds of stories of adults who try to apply for their first credit line to find that their identity was stolen years earlier when they were minors and, consequently, their credit was destroyed before they have even a chance to start practicing healthy credit habits.
We have compiled eight simple steps that parents or guardians can take to ensure that their children do not become victims of identity thieves.
- Eliminate non-essential disclosure of the social security number for your child
- Monitor the position of your child
- Limit the amount of personal information available about your child on the Internet
- Contact each of the three major credit bureaus in your child's name each quarter
- Contact the administration of social security on behalf of your child at least annually
- Involving local authorities if you feel your child has been the victim
- Consider a provider of proactive identity theft solutions for your entire family
- Help border child identity theft by sharing these tips with other parents
Eliminate non-essential disclosure of the social security number for your child
a social security number is the single most dangerous piece of information in the hands of an identity thief. With the social security number for your child an identity thief potentially has the ability to open lines of credit on behalf of your child.
must provide this information only when it is absolutely necessary. Every time someone asks you to provide the Social Security number for your child the following questions :?
- Why the Social Security number for my child need
- How will the social security number of my child use?
- Who will have access to the social security number for my child?
- When the social security number of my child will be stored?
If the applicant is not able to provide you with adequate answers to these questions then it is better to refuse to provide such information.
There is also a good idea to store the Social Security card of your child in a safe place like a locked cabinet, safe or safety. You should never let your child have direct access to their social security card, it is too easy to be moved and end up in the wrong hands.
Monitor the position of your child
If credit card offers, late payment or other financial items appear suspects sent to your minor child do not assume they are simply mistakes by the shipper. Your minor child should never receive :.
- lenders Credit offers of any nature, including credit card companies, mortgage lenders and student loans
- Bills, Photos owed or collections for all type of financial or other account
- Social Security Administration account statements
If you receive these types of communications, or other suspicious appearance mail on behalf of your child follow up with the company or organization that sent them to determine the reason they were sent in the first place.
If there is unauthorized financial accounts (or any other type of account that has not been opened legitimately) on behalf of your child, then it is likely that your child has been a victim of theft ID. Notify the company where the account is held, and all three credit bureaus (see point 4 below) and your local police department (see point 6 below).
Limit the amount of personal information available about your child on the Internet
The Internet is a great tool for communicating with friends and family, but it is also a great source for identity thieves to personal information about me your child. Never publish any personal information about your child, such as date of birth or address, on a website (especially not a website that is accessible to the public, or do not have protection by password).
If your child is old enough to access the Internet on their own, be sure to monitor their use as well. Many sites such as MySpace, Facebook and others, it is very easy for children to post large amounts of personal information about themselves.
Also, be sure to discuss the various dangers of openly communicate personal information to strangers on the Internet with your children. They are never too young to start practicing using the Internet safely.
Contact each of the three major credit bureaus in your child's name each quarter
None of the three major credit bureaus, which include Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, maintain credit files on any person under the age of 18. If your minor child has a credit file with one of the offices which means potentially they were victims.
We recommend that parents request a credit report on behalf of their child from all three credit bureaus once a quarter.
These are instructions on how to contact Experian, Equifax and TransUnion to name your child:
Experian
Phone number: (888) 397- 3742
Website: http://www.experian.com
address to send requests about identity theft children:
Experian
PO Box 9532
Allen, TX 75013
How to request a review of your credit report from Experian child:
parents are required to mail in documentation prooves that they are the guardian legal child. An example of sufficient documentation is the birth certificate of a child and a copy of the driving license of the parent.
If no credit file exists for the child, and Experian will send a written notice by mail. This is good news because it means the identity of your child was not compromised.
If there is a credit file and Experian will send a copy of the credit report to the parent. This means it is likely your child's identity has been stolen. The parent can then challenge the fraudulent items on their child's credit record. Experian also place a credit lock on the child's credit report so that no additional credit can be extended to them until they reach the age of 18.
Equifax
Phone number: (800) 658-1111
Website: http://www.equifax.com
address to send surveys about identity theft children:
Equifax
PO Box 105069
Atlanta, GA 30348
How to request a review of your credit file from Equifax child
the parents are required to mail in documentation prooves they are the legal guardian of the child. An example of sufficient documentation is the birth certificate of a child and a copy of the driving license of the parent. If a record is found Equifax clears all the fraudulent accounts and withdraw the credit record of their system and flag Social Security number of the child as belonging to a minor. Equifax does not provide copies of the child's credit report to parents.
TransUnion
Phone number: (800) 916-8800
Website: http://www.transunion.com
address to send surveys about identity theft children:
Trans Union PO Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834
How to request a review of your credit report from TransUnion child:
TransUnion has set up a special email address for parents to use to ask their child's credit report. Parents can email childidtheft@transunion.com. TransUnion then send instructions on how to request a credit report. If a credit report exists then TransUnion lock the child's credit report until they reach the age of 18.
It is important to remember that contact with just one of the credit bureaus are not sufficient protection because many lenders only report to one or two credit bureaus. For example, if only Experian is contacted and a lender that extended credit to an identity thief pretending to be your child reports that the credit Equifax and TransUnion, you would not be alerted.
Keeping up with the three offices of each quarter, surveys or twelve in total per year, can be a lot of work, but it is extremely important. It can be overwhelming, which is why we strongly suggest that parents consider the protection of their families and the identity protection service such as LifeLock, who does most of the work for you (see point 7 -Dessous).
Contact the administration of social security in the name of your child at least once a year
The administration of social security can be reached by phone at (800) 772-1213 and will be able to provide you all the files attached to the social security number for your child.
Your minor children should not have work history associated with their social security number. If they do, it is likely that someone is fraudulently using it to get a job. If your child has a work permit and a valid work history, make sure that employers match business where your child was employed.
Keep in mind that it is possible for identity thieves to use the Social Security number for your child without using their names. Since the administration of Social Security uses a number system and the corresponding name their checks would not catch this type of identity theft.
Involving local authorities if you feel your child has been the victim
If you think your child has become a victim of identity theft and make sure to file a report with your local police department immediately. This report will help you and your child recover from identity theft incident.
Without a police report, it may be difficult to prove that some fraudulent charges were not committed by a third party and you can, in the worst case,
be held financially responsible . In addition, based out of the police report all three major credit bureaus modify or delete fraudulent information on your child's credit report.
If you do not know how to contact your local police department to dial directory assistance and ask for the non-emergency phone number for the local police.
Consider a provider of proactive identity theft solutions for your entire family
Protect your children against identity theft is an extremely important work to consume, but time. It is possible to track all aspects of this important task, but we strongly recommend that most parents consider the use of a protection service against identity theft to keep the identity of their child safe and secure.
We have reviewed all major identity theft protection services and we found one, LifeLock provides extensive protection against identity theft for children.
LifeLock check your child's credit report to each of the major credit bureaus and their account with the administration of social security several times a year. If fraudulent activity is detected LifeLock will place fraud alerts on your child's credit report and mark them as being associated with a minor.
The service is extremely cost less than $ 2.00 per month and will save you hours of work and research. It also gives you the peace of mind of a professional organization that focuses on proactive identity theft protection, and well versed in its protection is to safeguard your children.
To enroll your child in LifeLock one or more parent must also be a member of the service. We highly recommend this service to all members of your family.
help curb the child's identity theft by sharing these tips with other parents
Unfortunately, the child's identity theft will probably a growing risk for the coming years. As a parent, you have the opportunity to not only help protect your own children to be victims, but other children as well.
To this end, help please slow us the child's identity theft threat saying that every knowledge relative to this guide.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Identity Theft Information
Federal Bureau of Investiagtion (FBI) Internet Fraud Complaint Center
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) identity theft Guide for online brokerage users
United States Department of Justice identity theft reference Guide
Centre for identity management protection information "identity fraud Trends and Patterns"
Washington Post identity Theft "Protect your identity"