Child Identity Theft Protection

Child identity theft is rapidly rising in numbers, with identity thieves able to easily use children’s credit without it being discovered for years. Child identity theft works the same way as it does for adults: the identity thief acquires a child’s personal information, then creates fraudulent accounts in their name. But because children usually don’t have financial accounts until they are older, no one may find out about the theft for many years, allowing the problems to be greatly compounded. This can result in serious credit problems for any child who becomes a victim of child identity theft.

Child identity theft can be a result of either an isolated incident where a thief gained access to their information through common identity theft methods, or from a breach of security within an office or agency that safeguards personal records. Whichever is the case, child identity theft can still be avoided, and if it should happen, there are a number of things parents can do to restore their children’s names like report any suspicions immediately to government authorities, creditors and the credit bureaus. However, our recommendation for parents is to be proactive by signing up for Child Identity Theft Protection from either TrustedID or LifeLock.