Protecting Your Children From Identity Theft

October 30th, 2008

There are a number of school programs teaching children about the importance of money, but consumer advocates say kids need to learn about protecting themselves from the growing crime of identity theft.

Zach Friesen is looking at a promising future that was almost derailed by a crime he didn't commit. His identity was stolen back when he was just 7 and he didn't find out until he applied for a job and college loans.

"It wasn't until I was 17, coming out of high school, that I found out about it for the first time," he said. 

He's spent years trying to clean up his credit and says he still pays for what happened to him.

"A lot of people can get loans that are much better than me. They cost a lot less to do things, get an apartment, a car," lamented Friesen.

Experts say more than 400,000 children have their identities stolen each year.

Consumer advocates want ID theft to be on the lesson plan in every school. The Identity Theft Resource Center recently released a video for teachers and parents to help explain the crime to children.

"People write and ask innocent questions, or what appear to be innocent questions: 'What's your first pet's name?' What county were you born in? What's your birthday'?" said Linda Foley of the Center.

"This is the crime of their generation, it's an information-age crime," Foley added. 

With answers to those critical questions, thieves can get a birth certificate or social security number, loans and credit cards.

"A social security number doesn't have a date of birth on it, therefore a credit issuer is blind," explained Foley.

Zach Friesen isn't sure how his identity was stolen, though one possibility is when his mother signed him in at the pediatrician's office using his social security number.

STEPS TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD'S IDENTITY:

• Monitor your children's postal mail
• Shred any credit requests, loan applications, or documents that contain your child's personal information that are not essential.
• Contact the police if you receive any past due bills, statements, or other similar documents in your child's name.
• Put any essential documents that contain your child's social security number and personal information in a safe place.
• Contact each of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TRW) on your child's behalf quarterly or at least twice a year and request a report.
• Contact the Social Security Administration Office on your child's behalf at least once a year and request reports.
• Do not put personal information about your child on the internet.
• Advise older children not to put their full name and date of birth on social networking sites such as Facebook and My Space.
• Conduct regular searches in public databases for information on your children and insure any personal information is removed.
• Do not disclose your child's social security number unless absolutely essential.
• Consider a service that will monitor and restore your child's credit and alert you of any misuse.
• Remember that even people you know can be identity thieves.
• Talk to other parents and spread these tips around.