Identity Theft Protection Lock

Having a baby is one of the most joyous times that people can ever experience. Mom and dad are busy planning, painting, buying, and concentrating on what they will name their new bundle of joy. Little do they realize that they are not the only ones eagerly awaiting their arrival. There are identity theft rings that can’t wait to get their hands on the babies newly issued social security number.

Sounds harsh, but it’s the reality of the world we live in today. Child identity theft is happening and it’s becoming a problem that can plague any family across the nation. Articles concerning identity theft abound, yet very few raise the concerns about children having their identification stolen. But the truth is, it’s happening more than most people even realize. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission reports that around 400,000 thousand cases per year of child identity theft take place. Other counts put the number closer to 500,000 child identity theft cases per year.

“We don’t ask for age in our identity-theft surveys,” Claudia Bourne Farrell, spokeswoman for the Federal Trade Commission recently told the Dallas Morning News. “Our self-reported, anecdotal data indicates that about 5 percent of the complaints last year were for people 18 and under.”

Identity theft and fraud and identity theft prevention should move to the forefront of every parent’s mind, especially for those that have little ones. Estimates are that half of all those ID theft cases have victims under the age of six. How can this ID theft possibly happen, especially when the child doesn’t even have a credit report to speak of? Thieves target babies for ID theft, because just about every baby born in America is issued a social security card. Parents usually get them in the mail and tuck them away, not usually needing them until many years later.

It’s these years that go by when the social security card isn’t used by the family that makes child identity theft so appealing to thieves. They know that if they steal the social security number of a baby, it’s not likely to even be detected until years later. Meanwhile, they have opened credit reports, gotten credit cards, taken out loans, obtained jobs, and a multitude of other activities, all while using the child’s social security number. Unfortunately, when people require a social security number for doing business, there is no verification needed of the age that is associated with it. If there were, red flag issues would be waving high when a three year old applies for credit cards.

There are ways to prevent identity theft and the first one is being very aware that it can happen to everyone, even a newborn. You can start by taking the following steps to prevent identity theft:

• Be very cautious of who you hand the card out to. If someone asks for the number, make sure they need it for a legitimate reason. Always question who needs it and what it will be used for.
• Store the social security card in a locked safe, rather than carrying it with you or giving it to a minor to hold.
• Take notice of any business-related mail that may be coming to the house in your child’s name. All bills that arrive should be investigated and not assumed to be errors.
• Teach older children to be very cautious about the information they give out when using the Internet and what they use as passwords.
• Check your child’s credit report yearly to monitor for any activity and act immediately if there is any that should not be there.
• Report all identity theft immediately.
• Family secure child identity theft programs, like those offered by LifeLock, can alleviate a lot of headaches when you sign up with their monitoring protection system. For a small monthly or yearly fee, they will monitor the situation for you and alert you if anything is amiss.

You are covered by our $1 Million Total Service Guarantee from the moment you enroll. If in the unfortunate event your identity is misused while you are a LifeLock member, we will pay professionals to resolve the problem for you – up to $1 million!

The last thing you want is for your child to turn 16 and not be able to get a driver’s license because his social security number is already associated with someone else. Or to apply for a college loan and find that her social security number already received large loans for an education they are awaiting repayment on. Situations like that can be devastating, especially when it has gone on for years. Take steps to prevent child identity theft and fraud today so your child has a more peaceful tomorrow.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 9:56 pm and is filed under Identify Theft Protection, Identity Theft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.