Can you imagine the shock of receiving a notice from the IRS that your six-year-old child has unpaid income taxes? Or that they have defaulted on a home in Florida? We require our children to wear helmets when they bicycle, sunscreen when they play outside, brush their teeth after sugary snacks, and to be wary of strangers. But how often do we think about keeping their personal identification information safe? Learning to tie shoelaces should be their biggest concern, not the protection of their Social Security number! It is important to look at your child’s credit health now, rather than being surprised when they apply for student loans or buy their first car, and possibly face the heartbreaking reality that their identity has been stolen. The Federal Trade Commission reports that child identity theft is on an alarming rise. Children are 51 times more likely than adults to have their Social Security number stolen. (FTC)
| In a report done by Richard Power, Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Mellon CyLab, there is a reference to a protection scan done on over 40,000 United States children. Of great concern is the fact that 10.2% of the child identities were positive for identity theft activity; one out of every ten children will have their identity compromised. Fresh, unused Social Security numbers are unusually valuable to identity thieves because they can link them to any name and date of birth. The likelihood of discovery is low, since the child will probably not use their Social Security number for a few years down the road. (Carnegie Mellon CyLab)
On average, it takes 334 days to become aware of a child identity breach, and 1 in 40 households with children under 18 reported child identity fraud (as notated by the 2012 Child Identity Fraud Report released by the Identity Theft Assistance Center). Using preventative measures now, will offer the best protection for the future. Here are some recommended ways to help keep your child’s information safe:
Help mitigate the risk of child identity theft, by managing and safeguarding your child’s personal information. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
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