Parenting

Child Identity Theft: AGrowing Concern By John Sileo sileo.com Are you as protective of your kids as I am of mine? My wife and two highly-spirited daughters are more than just the centerof my universe - they are the compass by which I set my course in everyaspect of life. If something is not good for the family, then it isn#146;tgood for me. And that means that I want to do everything in my power tokeep them safe. You and I are called on to protect our children from many things,starting in the womb. Even before they are born, we practice goodpreventative care. We take specially designed pre-natal exerciseclasses, coax ourselves to eat right for their benefit, learn CPR andLove and Logic and screen regularly for signs of trouble. Once they areborn, we provide the best nourishment, the finest medical care, ampleplaytime, rest and an infinite flow of unconditional love. You get thepoint#133; we do everything in our power to prevent complications and togive them the best chance to grow up healthy, happy and in harmony withthe world around them. That is our responsibility, our purpose and ourjoy.nbsp;nbsp; But how often do you check their credit report? Their WHAT?! I can feel the surprise in your blank stare. I can hearyour questions: "Check my kid's#133;credit report? But she is only seven! She doesn't even have her frontteeth yet, let alone a credit card! There are so many years to gobefore we need to worry about that. Right?" Unfortunately, no. Because children have untouched and unblemishedcredit records, they are highly attractive targets. Thieves steal achild's identity early on, nurture it until they have a solid creditscore, and then abuse and discard it.nbsp; How Does it Happen? All an identity thief needs to ruin your child's bright financialfuture is her name and Social Security Number.nbsp; "Shouldn't mychild's age show up on any credit background check, shouldn't themerchant recognize that the person in front of them buying a car oncredit isn't seven years old?" you ask. Yes, it should, but the peoplescreening the credit report rarely give it the time and care necessaryto detect fraud.nbsp; All too often, background checks involve simply matching the name andthe Social Security Number provided. This leaves doors wide open forscandalous minds to wreak havoc on your child's perfect credit. Themost unsettling part is that the ageof the applicant (in this case, the person posing as your child)becomes official with the credit bureaus upon the first creditapplication. This makes clearing a sabotaged credit record evenmore difficult because you have to prove to the credit bureau that yourchild is only seven and isn't responsible for thousands of dollars ofdebt. In no time at all, your child could have a maxed out credit card,unpaid bills and a huge mortgage for beachfront property across thecountry. You might not discover the illegal purchases until your childopens a bank account, applies for a job, tries to get a driver'slicense or enters college. At that point, you are left with thetime-consuming dilemma of cleaning up someone else's fraudulent mess.If only clearing up a credit report was as easy as cleaning up afteryour kids. Do the gaping holes in our current credit system and the audacity ofcriminals leave you enraged? Me too. And it is imperative that you useyour anger as fuel to protect and prepare your children's future beforeit is too late. Child Identity theft is the fastest growing sector of the identitytheft "industry," and the numbers are staggering. Although it'sdifficult to estimate exactly how many children lose their identitiessince the crime can go undetected for years, the FTC states that 5% ofidentity theft cases target children, which translates into 500,000kidnapped child identities per year, and growing. The Identity TheftResource Center discovered that in 54% of the cases, the child wasunder the age of six. Who Does This? The identity thief is not always a stranger. In many cases, it's arelative with bad credit who takes advantage of a child's pristinecredit. Conveniently, these family members generally have access to theinformation necessary to maximize the fraud with little attention. This seems absurd, but imagine a parent who is strapped for cash, has abad credit score and needs to buy groceries. In this case, short-termthinking blinds the relative or friend to long-term consequences.nbsp;In other instances, the child's future is not taken into considerationat all. Frankly, it doesn't take much to get the crime underway; all a criminalneeds is the child's name and Social Security Number. These pieces ofpersonal information are exposed in a variety of ways: When registering fordaycare, schools and recreational sports On medical, dental andhospital records When joining organizationslike the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, etc. When the above informationis permanently stored and accessed by volunteers or employees When one of the aboveorganizations is breached by a hacker or malicious software When an adult befriends yourchild on a social networking site (MySpace, Facebook) and eventuallysocially engineers private information out of them TheThree Basic Types of Child Identity Theft Child Identity theft generally falls into these 3 categories: 1.Financial identity theft occurswhen the name and Social Security Number is used to establish new linesof credit. 2.Criminalidentity theft happens when the criminal uses the child'sidentity to obtain a driver's license or substitutes the child'sidentity if caught in a criminal act. 3.Identitycloning entails using a child's identity (via informationcollection or a black market #145;purchase' of personal information) forfinancial, criminal and governmental purposes. The most common form ofcloned identity theft is committed on behalf of undocumented workerslooking for an identity that will keep them working in this country. For parents, cleaning up the disaster of identity theft for theirchildren is costly and incredibly time consuming. Getting a new SocialSecurity Number is almost impossible, and rarely the best option. Taking steps right now to protectyour child from this horrible crime is one of the greatest investmentsyou will ever make in their financial and emotional future. Protecting Your Children Acting now on behalf of your child will protect them from consequencescommon to child victims: Starting adulthood with acredit rating low enough to scare away the hungriest of loan sharks Being denied a first loan,credit card or apartment rental because of a crime committed 10-15years earlier (the passage of time makes this crime very hard to clearup) Being denied access tocollege or a new job Having a warrant out for herarrest for crimes that she didn't commit In the same way that you can'tprotect your children from every bruise and scrape, you can't entirelyremove the risk of identity theft. You can, however, prevent or softenthe fall if it does happen.nbsp; Take these steps first: Stop giving out your child's personalinformation. Until you are confident that it is absolutelynecessary to receive the services desired, withhold their personalinformation. More than 80% of organizations that ask for your child'sSocial Security Number don't actually need it to establish services. Ifyou must give it, ask them how they will use it, how long they willkeep it and how it will be protected while they have it. Vigilance ishighly effective. Never carry your child's SSN with you. Order a free credit report for your childat least once a year. All three major credit reporting bureaus(Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) offer one free credit report peryear per individual. Order one for your child at the same time youorder yours and review them both for any red flags indicatingfraudulent activity. I recommend that you order the first one (Equifax)right now; order a second report (Experian) in 4 more months; order thethird report (TransUnion) four months after that and then repeat theprocess the following year. For a more convenient option, use anidentity monitoring services for you and your family. If you find evidence of fraudulentactivity, contact the police, the source of the fraud and all threecredit bureaus. Filing a police report helps to establish yourchild's innocence in an official way. Have the credit bureaus FREEZEyour child's credit for maximum protection. Keep detailed records ofall correspondence between yourself, the police, the merchant and thecredit bureaus. It will come in handy should you ever find yourself incourt, as I did. Educate your children on the importance ofprotecting their personal information. Teach them about thevalue of their personal information: their name, address, phonenumbers, email address, Social Security Number and any passwords andPIN numbers. Reinforce that they own their private information and thatit should not be shared with friends, over the internet or with anyonewhom they don't know or trust. Education is absolutely the bestfinancial gift you will ever give to them. Because you love and protect yourchildren as much as I do, you should start this process immediately. Inthe case of child identity theft, an ounce of prevention is worth alifetime of financial security. Don't let the center of your universebecome just another statistic. About the author: After losinghis business to data breach and his reputation to identity theft, JohnSileo became America#146;s leading identity theft and data breach speaker.His recent clients include the Department of Defense, the FDIC, BlueCross Blue Shield and Pfizer. To learn more about John, visit sileo.com . Permission granted for use onDrLaura.com.