About 1.4 million children in the U.S. were victims of ID theft fraud last year, according to a report by Javelin Strategy & Research. Criminals take the child’s stolen Social Security number, add an adult date of birth and different address, and then start applying for credit in the child’s name.
There is one thing parents can to do protect their children: Go to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and freeze their credit files.
“Freezing your child’s credit is one of the most robust protection steps that you can take as a parent, said Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the non-profit Identity Theft Resource Center. “It does not allow anyone…to open new lines of credit in your name. Like the name says, it freezes everyone out of that credit file.”
Velasquez want parents to realize that children’s Social Security numbers are being bought and sold by criminals on the dark web every day.
“There’s a very high likelihood that that data has been compromised and the thieves already have access to it,” she told me. “When you freeze a child’s credit, even if the thieves have access to those core credentials, they still will not be able to open a [financial] account in your name or your child’s name because the credit file is frozen, and until it’s thawed, they will not have access, even if they have those credentials.”
If you suspect your child has been the victim of identity theft, contact the Identity Theft Resource Center. You can talk one-on-one to a trained counselor at 888-400-5530.
More Info: Identity Theft: Are You Protecting Your Kids? This story contains an audio interview with Eva Velasquez talking about child ID Theft.
