Protecting your child from
identity theft

What would you think if your child started getting credit card offers in the mail?  It might sound funny, but it’s no laughing matter.  Each year, children are some of the 10 million Americans the Federal Trade Commission estimates are victimized by identity theft.

Zach Friesen is a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and he was a victim of child identity theft.  At 7-years-old, someone purchased a $40,000 houseboat in his name.  He didn’t know about it until he was 17, when he applied for a job and a student loan, and was denied both because of bad credit.  He spent the entire summer of his high school senior year working to fix his credit.

“In my case, one of the reasons I was targeted, and why a lot of people are being targeted as children is because they don’t check their credit reports,” said Friesen, who is now a spokesperson for credit fraud protection company LifeLock.

Kathy Graham with the Better Business Bureau of Coastal Carolina says each year the number of young victims is climbing. Identity thieves can steal a child’s information in a number of ways. Many times a parent will use his or her child’s identity because of their own bad credit. But strangers can also get the information fairly easily by sifting through trash, stealing mail, or taking it from a form that’s not properly protected. Friesen says that’s what happened to him in Colorado. 

“A lot of the children in my area actually had their identities stolen through a pediatrics office,” Friesen said. “Someone went in and found the names and Social Security numbers from a check-in book that was out on the counter.”

How do you know if this has happened to your child? Kathy Graham says some things should raise red flags, like your child getting credit card offers or financial documents in the mail.

She says check with the Social Security Administration to see if your child has an earning statement. 

“If your child, who is 6-months-old, has an earnings statement, then obviously the identity has been stolen,” Graham said. 

To help restore your child’s good name, the Federal Trade Commission says to file a police report. Next, place a fraud alert on all the credit reports and review the reports carefully.  You’ll also need to close the fraudulent accounts.  And be sure to report your complaint to the Federal Trade Commission.