As technology increases from day to day, the importance of putting together an Identity Theft protection plan for children is a growing concern. Many parents don’t think they need to worry about their children and their identity information being compromised but statistics prove otherwise. Protecting children of identity theft, is a high concern as there is nothing on their credit file yet, so it can make it easier for theft of a child ID to happen.
According to Elite Personal Finance 70% of children who are victimized end up with fraudulent credit accounts or loans in their name.
You may wonder why would anyone want to steal a child’s identity? Usually a stolen identity is for financial reasons. Some reasons may include:
- To rent an apartment
- To get a job
- To open a bank account
- To apply for loans
- To get a cell phone
- To fraudulently receive welfare
I have wondered, who on earth would steal an identity of a child? There are two categories of people that steal and use children’s information. The first is an unknown perpetrator, they usually have stolen or purchased social security numbers that happen to belong to a child. The second category surprisingly is family members. Some family members have been found to use child information in times of desperate measure. Since children have clean credit history, some family members have been found to open new lines of credit to help pay off bills.
While parents may have a system of alerts and credit checks to protect their own credit, kids are easier targets. Identity theft on a child can go undiscovered for years. Children may not become aware until they are turned down for a job or loan due to a horrible credit history. So I must ask, do your kids need an identity theft protection plan? I say yes! It would provide a peace of mind to parents to make sure that their children are fully protected.
To ensure you are taking the proper steps to keep your children safe, we suggest downloading this excellent Child Identity Theft Education Kit. This will provide great insights to make sure you are taking the proper steps to keep your child safe from identity theft. Stay safe out there!
