A new study has found that a child in America is 51 times more likely to have their identity stolen than an adult.
Carnegie Mellon Cylab looked at over 40,000 juveniles and found 4,311 of them had been a victim of identity theft. That’s a huge 10.2% for our kids while as an adult we have a 0.2% chance of being a victim based on 2009/10 figures.
Stealing a child’s social security number is the jackpot as far as idenity thieves are concerned because the child is unlikely to become aware of the problem until they reach adulthood and go to open a bank account or apply for a credit card. – then of course the sh*t hits the fan but it’s far too late.
According to the Cylab report, another reason the criminals go after a child’s social security number is that there is no way for anyone to check what name belongs with the number.
“one reason that minor Social Security numbers are so valuable is that there is currently no process or organization, like an employee or creditor, to check what name and birth date is officially attached to that Social Security number. As long as an identity thief has a Social Security number with a clean history, the thief can attach any name and date of birth to it.”
The report includes several identity theft stories that will shock most parents such as the story of Kentucky youngster Nathan. At just 14 years old it was discovered he already had a credit history going back over a decade.
In his credit history his parents found a foreclosed mortgage and several credit cards all in the name of a suspect from California. The thief had looked after his new credit file and established a good credit history for the first few years. So much so that he was then able to buy a $605,000 home in California.
Soon after the home loans and credit cards began defaulting and eventually the bank foreclosed and credit card debts were handed to collection agencies and the identity theft came to light. Police estimate the fraud is for over $607,000
Child identity theft isn’t always about starting a new credit history though. Many are stolen to be used by illegal immigrants so they can get utilities switched on and are able to start work with no questions asked.
Joe Says: At the moment requesting a juvenile’s credit file is usually a waste of time because a credit file is attached to a name, date of birth and a social security number. Because the identity thief attaches the SSN to a new name and DOB any credit check returns a blank.
You can however take steps to lower the chances of it happening by taking a few sensible precautions.
Of the 4311 children that had their identity stolen, over 40% were in their teens. As all parents know, teens want to be treated as adults and as such will want to fill their wallets with as many cards as they can so as to mimick Ma and Pa. For their own good do not let that include their social security card. Many identities are stolen when a wallet or purse is lost and falls into the wrong hands.
For this reason you should really set an example by not carrying your own SSN either.
Never give your child’s personal details unless you know what will happen to them. It is your legal right to ask if they will be stored, if so for how long and where? What security is in place to protect the info? If they are to be destroyed wil they be shredded?
Watch the video below to see just how the criminal steals and then uses your child’s identity.
AllClearId who supplied the video above offer a free check on your child’s social security number which reports all records associated with it regardless of DOB or name attached to it. I’ve had a look at it and at the moment it seems to be an excellent method of finding out whether your Son or Daughter has already fallen victim to child identity theft. I have no affiliation with the company and haven’t used any of their services so use your own diligence.
Source: Cylab
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