How to Check Your Child’s Identity for Signs of Theft

Though it isn’t nice to think about, children are often targeted for crimes because they are so innocent and pure. They tend to be open with information and eager to please, which makes them easy for bad people to exploit in various ways. Unfortunately, this rule holds true even for financial crimes, like identity theft. Whether thieves receive sensitive information by scamming children directly or merely search for minors’ data in their attacks, children’s identities are increasingly pursued by criminals eager for an easy payday.

Children are excellent targets for identity theft for several reasons. First, their credit reports are likely to be completely clean, which makes it easier for thieves to apply for credit cards, take out loans and perform other malicious financial acts. Secondly, many parents neglect to check their children’s credit regularly, which means criminals could enjoy years upon years of theft before their crimes are discovered and interrupted.

You want the best for your child, which means the opportunity to build their own credit without suffering the consequences of identity theft. To that end, you should do what you canto monitor your child’s identity, such as:

Monitoring a Child’s Credit History Through Reports

The law allows you to retrieve one free credit report per year from each of the three credit reporting agencies, which means three times per year, you can obtain your child’s credit report without any cost. If all is well, your child shouldn’t have a credit report — unless you have given them a credit card, in which case, you should only see evidence of authorized charges on their credit history. Then again, if you discover your credit-less child suddenly has a report or that there are unexplained charges affecting their credit, you might begin to suspect identity theft.

If you don’t have the time to remember to collect your child’s credit reports, you can outsource this task to an ID protection service from a reputable cybersecurity provider. These services automatically pull credit checks every month or so for every member of your family, and they also monitor social media and the dark web for your personal information. Some of the best ID protection also extends insurance coverage, which can help you recover from identity theft more quickly and completely.

Refusing to Supply a Child’s Social Security Number

The more places that have your child’s social security number on file, the more opportunities identity thieves have to steal it, and once a thief has your child’s name and social, they can open credit accounts, file fraudulent taxes and perform all manner of other frustrating and damaging acts. Therefore, you should try to avoid divulging your child’s social security number when you can.

Schools and other institutions might request your child’s social. Before supplying it, you should ask why they need it and how they are securing this sensitive information. If they don’t provide comforting answers, you might ask if there are other identifiers you can use instead.

Locking Away Files With a Child’s Sensitive Information

Another step you can take to prevent your child’s sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands is locking away documents that contain personal data in a filing cabinet, safe or safety deposit box. Social security cards, birth certificates, medical records and other papers should be held in a place that only you can access; you should avoid carrying them around or leaving them in the open, where thieves might spy them or snatch them. During disposal, you should shred documents that contain your child’s name, birthdate, address and other details, to make it that much more difficult for thieves to walk away with valuable information.

Looking for Other Signs of Child Identity Theft

In addition to strange items on your child’s credit report, you should watch for any of the following issues, which are good signs that an identity thief has found and used your child’s information fraudulently:

• You are denied government benefits for your child, like state-sponsored heath care coverage or nutrition assistance because your child is already receiving them.
• Your child receives overdue bills for accounts that you did not open.
• You receive notice that your child has not paid income taxes to the IRS. This occurs when an identity thief uses your child’s information on tax forms for employment.
• Your child is denied student loans due to bad credit, despite not opening any credit accounts previously.

Your job is to protect your child from harm, and in the modern world, identity theft can have incredibly long-lasting damage. By taking steps to monitor your child’s identity during childhood and adolescence, you can set them up for a lifetime of success.