• Safety Tips: Identity Theft

Personal Safety:

Identity Theft - Not Just for Adults

We're all familiar with the personal devastation that can be caused by identity theft. Adults who have been victimized by this crime can spend years trying to re-establish their credit rating and straighten out their financial records. But what happens when the victims are children?

As strange and inconceivable as it may seem, more and more children are becoming vulnerable to identity theft. How can this be? There are a number of contributing factors.

The biggest threat to children, according to this article is their social security number. With the increased reliance on computer technology to keep track of everything from school records to sports team registrations, children's social security numbers are one of the most common tools used identify a child within an organizationís database. This makes it easy for anyone with access to this database to find and use a child's social security number to do everything from opening credit card accounts to falsely claiming them as federal income tax exemptions.

While many people who steal children's social security numbers do so for their own benefit, many others will sell the information on the black market, usually at a tidy sum.

Even more surprising (and shocking) is that some parents find themselves in such dire financial straits that they take the extreme measure of using their child's social security number to apply for additional lines of credit in the hope of bailing themselves out of their financial mess. In fact, the Identity Theft Resource Center, an advocacy group that works on behalf of identity theft victims, estimates that more than half of the identity theft cases involving children are As a result, these kids find themselves with ruined credit ratings years before they would normally even think of applying for their first credit card.

Financial considerations are not the only reasons why identity theft crimes are committed against children. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, a child's identifying information is often illicitly obtained by illegal immigrants for the purposes of obtaining documents such as driversí licenses.

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) was established in 1999 by Linda and Jay Foley, themselves victims of identity theft. Since its founding, the organization has been recognized numerous times for its work on behalf of identity theft victims. The organization's website contains a wealth of information which can help parents determine whether their child has been victimized by identity theft as well as steps that should be taken to begin to remedy the situation. Fortunately, there are many things that parents can do to protect their children from being victimized in the first place. Among the safeguards that should be taken are:

• Know who you are giving your child's social security number to. Don't be afraid to question the sports teams, community groups and other organizations that ask for this information regarding their need for the information; while most organizations are completely trustworthy and have no ulterior motives in mind when asking for your child's identifying information, there are always some exceptions. Because of this, it is recommended that you do not provide this information.
• Do not carry your child's social security number in your wallet or purse. This includes not only social security cards, but also medical insurance identification cards, which frequently bear the insured's social security number. You should also not store it in electronic devices such as a personal organizer or a computer. In the event one of these items is stolen, not only will your information be compromised, so will that of your child. As an alternative to carrying your child's original medical insurance identification card, consider making a photocopy and obscuring the social security number with a permanent marker.
• Under no circumstances should your child provide their social security to another person without your permission. Make sure they know the importance of keeping this information private and insist that no matter how legitimate the request might seem, that they they check with you before providing their number to anyone.

Finally, if credit card applications begin to arrive in your child's name, there is a good chance that your child's identity has been compromised. Immediately call one of the three major credit reporting bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian.

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