Like Taking Candy from a Baby: Why Children are the Latest ID Theft Victims
It sounds absurd, but authorities say it happens with frightening regularity: children are being targeted for identity theft.
What’s worse, the thieves could be family members who take advantage of their children’s social security numbers to procure credit cards or fraudulent loans.
Identity theft may be easier and faster to detect when perpetrated against adults, as most individuals in the workforce check their credit regularly.
It’s different in the case of a child, who may never know his or her identity was tampered with until years later, experts warn. The possibility is an unsettling one for parents, but there are signs to look for. Know the red flags so you can better ensure your child’s identity safety.
A Parent’s Nightmare
It’s frightening and shocking when adults who work to keep their children out of harm’s way discover their child may be an ID fraud victim.
Most frequently, a child’s social security number is the gateway through which a criminal works, experts say. Since this number is issued within days of a child’s birth, there are potentially almost two decades during which a child’s identity may be stolen.
Florida resident Jessica Wilmer expressed her shock when her son, only nine months old at the time, received a credit card offer in the mail. (See this story.) According to WCTV News, Ms. Wilmer commented, “He’s only nine months old. That’s not fair.”
Close to Home
Wilmer is right to be worried: mailed credit or loan offers could indicate that an individual’s social security number is circulating, which may point to identity theft. Had Ms. Wilmer not received the mailing, she might never have known that a danger existed…which could give a criminal 18 years to destroy her son’s future credit.
However, it’s not only strangers that use this insidious method, experts say. Sadly, a family member–even the child’s parent–is sometimes the ID thief. With a child’s social security number, the family member takes out loans, credit cards and even may purchase and then rapidly sell homes.
Protecting Your Child
Luckily, though, most parents are more on the lookout for their children’s welfare than on the hunt to misuse a child’s identity.
In the wake of the Wilmer story, Florida’s Attorney General advised parents to limit the use of their child’s social security number in order to minimize the possibility of ID theft. Other advice included not carrying a child’s social security card in the parent’s wallet and keeping an eye out for suspicious mail in the child’s name.
The Attorney General also advised cautious use of the internet by children and limiting the amount of personal information a child gives out on the web.
More information can be found at myfloridalegal.com and at the FTC’s anti-ID fraud website.
