Five Percent of Identity Theft Victims Are Children
By Ken Stoll
The latest figures indicate that 5 percent of all identity theft cases reported to the Federal Trade Commission last year were filed for children under the age of 18. That is a startling number which will likely continue to grow.
The latest figures indicate that 5 percent of all identity theft cases reported to the Federal Trade Commission last year were filed for children under the age of 18. That is a startling number which will likely continue to grow.
Nowadays, children are online as much as they are watching television. Youngsters as young as 5 and 6 years of age are comfortable with computers. Pre-teens and teenagers communicate regularly online and visit a wide range of social websites which harvests their personal data.
Because we are in the online information age, minors can more easily fall victim to ID theft. Through sharing of personal information, they are at a greater risk of becoming a victim of identity theft than were kids of only a decade ago.
What's most troubling is that your child may not find out until many years later, when they're grown up and ready to apply for credit – that their identity has been stolen.
Here are some common sense Tips to Protect Children from identity theft and online fraud:
1) Keep info private - Educate children about the importance of keeping personal information private.
2) Protect their SSN - Your kids need to ask your permission from a parent before they give out their Social Security number and address or other personal contact information to anyone.
3) Protect personal info - Warn children about the perils of submitting their email address, name, home address, and birth date to online sites.
4) Check for red flags -If you start to receive promotional mail and especially credit card solicitations in your child’s name, this is a red flag for potential identity theft.
5) Stay off mailing lists - Keep the names of children off mailing lists. Use an adult family member's name instead.
6) SSN's only when necessary - Social Security number theft is on the rise. Don’t give your children’s SSN to anyone, if it's not absolutely necessary. When it is, ask why it's needed and how it will be used.
7) Parental monitoring - Pay attention to sites your children visit and ensure they are not unnecessarily exposing themselves to identity theft.
8) Protect SSN cards - Don't allow your children to carry their Social Security cards. Keep them locked in a secure place.
Young people are attractive targets to online cons and fraud artists because they may not be as savvy about safeguarding personal information and could easily fall prey while surfing the internet. They are also more attractive if they have a Social Security number, which is one of the keys to building a synthetic identity.
I'm 63 yrs old and someone tries to get my credit card I have a red flag on my credit report and they let me know when someone trying to get into my acct.
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