Has Your Child Been the Victim of Identity Theft?
Children Need to Be Protected From Identity Theft Too
It used to be that high school students would get out of class for an assembly and the speaker was usually a recovering alcoholic there to warn about the dangers of substance abuse and drunk driving. While those are certainly very valid and beneficial topics young people need to know about, there’s also a new area of concern that high school students being educated on. We now live in a world where children are becoming the victims of identity theft.
Identity Theft in the Under 18 Crowd
A high school student found out at the age of 17 that he had become the victim of identity theft at the age of 7. Now as a result of his horrible experience and the damage to his credit rating, he’s on a mission to alert others to the unfortunate possibility of identity theft.
Why Target Kids and Teens?
Children and teens are a prime target for identity theft criminals because they have perfectly clean credit records. Add that to the fact that parents don’t usually check their children’s credit reports, and it's a criminal's dream come true. A crime can go undetected so long that it would be difficult to find out who did once the identity theft victim finally realizes what has happened.
Getting Your Child’s Credit Report
Checking a child’s credit report is a bit more difficult than getting your own credit report. An adult can get online and order a credit report through one of several reputable websites. They can even print that credit report on their home computer. If you want to request information on your child, you’ll need to request that information in writing.
Credit reporting agencies don’t actually offer formal credit reports for children under the age of 18, which is one of the reasons you can’t request that information online. They will, however be able to provide you with information on your child. If you find out a credit history exists for your child, that is a red flag that he or she has been a victim of identity theft.