PNC Bank issued a report on how parents can protect their children from the growing problem of identity theft of minors.
A recent survey by the Identity Theft Assistance Center and the Javelin Strategy & Research Group found that one in 40 families had at least one child whose personal information was compromised.
“The primary use of stolen personally identifiable information is for financial purposes,” Trevor Buxton, fraud awareness and communications manager at PNC Bank, said. “Using the stolen Social Security number, identity thieves can open credit cards, rent apartments, buy cars, secure jobs, and apply for welfare or other government programs.”
A stolen social security number, applied for at birth, can be used to create a synthetic identity with a different name, birthdate and address to apply for credit. Until the child applies for a credit card himself at age 18, there is typically little risk of detection.
One warning sign that your child may be a victim of identity theft are bills, credit card promotions or loan offers addressed to your child. Other signs include a notification from the IRS of unpaid taxes in a child’s name, notification that a child’s social security number was used on another tax return, collection calls for a minor, and declined government benefits because they are already being paid to someone else using a child’s social security number.
Parents can protect their children by never carrying their child’s social security card with them and being cautious not to fill out forms that ask for the entire social security number as opposed to the last four digits. Parents should also request a credit report for their children annually to see if there is any activity by identity thieves.
If a child is a victim, place a 90-day credit alert the on the child’s file and request a security freeze on the child’s credit. Once completed, file a police report, contact businesses identified in the credit report and request that the account be closed. Parents should also contact the credit reporting agencies to remove all accounts associated with the child.