According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft is the use of personally identifying information without permission to commit fraud or other crimes. Identity thieves use others' identities to open accounts, obtain lines of credit, apply for jobs or government services and commit medical identity fraud. Victims may only find out that personal information has been stolen when strange bills and threatening collection notices arrive. Incredibly unlucky victims may discover that they have been victimized by the appearance of a warrant for a crime literally committed in their name. By the time the crime has been detected the thief or thieves may be long gone leaving the victim the arduous task of repairing the damaged credit.

Ever hungry for new sources of income, identity thieves have been increasingly targeting victims who are often the least knowledgeable and capable of protecting their personal information. These predators are now going after those with the most pristine credit histories: minors. Despite how it may sound, there is no cause for alarm -- our children are not helpless. There are steps you can take to shield children in your care from identity theft and fraud. Advice from Linda Foley, Founder & Chairman of the Identity Theft Resource Center ® and Bernardo M. Vasquez , a senior consultant for Enterprise Risk Services at Deloitte LLP , will help you protect personal information, detect ID theft, and let you know what to do in case your child becomes a victim.



NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
Identity thieves are equal opportunity criminals; anyone with a social security number is a potential target. Social security numbers give no indication of the age of the bearer, so it is possible for even a newborn, of course with an adult’s “help,” to apply for a line of credit or a loan. In addition, many applications do not require verification of income or job history. After an application has been made in the infant’s name, the lender will run a credit report revealing that the applicant either has a clean record, if his ID has been used before, or no record at all. While the applicant may appear as a significant credit risk he may still be a risk that creditors are willing to take -- at a very high interest rate. Of course, the ID thief is unconcerned about interest rates since there is no intention to repay the debts. Now the baby has a charge card and is ready to hit the mall where the new credit card can be used to buy all the toys he wants at Babies R Us.

LIKE TAKING CANDY FROM A BABY
Children’s identification is often left unguarded and many victims are preyed on by those entrusted to look after them. Foley reports that predators gain easy access to children’s identities from schools, childcare centers, and medical facilities where records of personal information are kept. In addition, family members, legal guardians, foster parents or other caregivers with damaged credit may use a child’s identity to acquire loans, open lines of credit or open utilities accounts. Even if the intent is not malicious, the results can be grave for the victim who may not find out about the fraud until applying for credit many years later as an adult. Eventually, the victims will have to take steps to repair their credit and recover from identity theft.

Cases where the perpetrator is known to the victim are often the most difficult to resolve. It may be hard for the victim to follow through with procedures to clear their credit history since it often which require filing a police report. This may lead to criminal proceedings against a family member or guardian with the victim as a witness. If the fraud took place while the victim was still a minor, all activity carried out using the stolen identity is void. However, if the fraud continued after the victim's 18th birthday, the situation becomes more difficult to handle since the theft has to be proven.

Vasquez, a specialist in security and privacy services, encourages victims of ID theft to respond to the crime by following the leading practices from law enforcement. Report the incident and file a police report with your local precinct making sure to include the detective's name and case number. In instances of credit card fraud, download and complete an FTC affidavit to recover lost funds and minimize liability. If you think that your information has been compromised online, immediately change all passwords. The injured party should also get a credit report which they can receive for free from all three major credit report companies.

SIGNS OF IDENTITY THEFT
Some of the signs of the ID theft are obvious. If you receive a bill, credit, and collection notices, or phone calls from collection agencies in your child’s name, his identity may have been stolen. Foley adds that if see your child’s name listed on incoming calls from an unknown number you have reason to suspect that his ID has been stolen. Unfortunately some instances of child ID theft are not discovered until the child becomes an adult and finds that he either has an existing credit report or experiences trouble in obtaining credit or opening accounts. Because checking for a credit report creates a credit report, Foley urges parents not to do so unless there is a strong suspicion of identity theft. You do not want your child to have any credit inquiries or a credit history his until he is old enough to begin applying for credit.

KNOWLEDGE IS THE BEST WEAPON
Because of the vulnerability of minors’ identities, it is important that parents and guardians include information about identity theft and fraud prevention when developing children’s financial literacy. Teens need to know that they should guard personal information including their social security number, name and address that can be used to impersonate them in financial transactions. Foley cautions that the Internet provides ample opportunities for identity thieves to collect personal information. Predators may ask children for information about themselves on social networking sites or try to obtain passwords. Seemingly harmless downloads of media, freeware, and shareware and systems operating with peer-to-peer networking can host programs capable of collecting personal information entered into your computer. Vasquez adds that USB flash drives, popular among students, should be encrypted or password protected to make it difficult for people to access the information and that all passwords should be changed periodically.

Parents should model preventative behavior for their children to help them minimize their “personal information footprint” and remove information from criminals’ reach. Vasquez suggests using a cross shredder to destroy all documents that contain your address and any other personally identifying information. He also strongly advises registering with www.donotcall.org and www.dmachoice.org to limit marketing appeals using your name, address, and phone number. And, finally, since mail theft is the simplest way to obtain your information, he advocates purchasing a secure mailbox if you don’t already have one.

If you are not sure how to talk to your child about identity theft, the Identity Theft Resource center has a variety of resources created for teens to teach them ID theft prevention. The FTC also has information to help consumers avoid ID theft.


For more information on dealing with identity theft check out these mainstreet.com articles:
How To Avoid Identity Theft Scams
Avoid The Web’s Most Dangerous Domains
Exposed: 4.2 Million Credit and Debit Accounts!
Can You Buy A House After Death?
7 Steps To Combat Identity Theft
Quiz: Are You Armed Against Identity Theft?