Parenting Pointers: Children and Identity Theft

As the issue of child identity theft continues to garner attention nationwide, I wanted to pass along some tips I got from from TrustedID—the nation’s most comprehensive identity protection and reputation management service. TrustedID offers the following tips for keeping kids safe from identity theft:

 

·         Educate your children: Talk to your child about the dangers of sharing personal info both online and offline. Make sure he/she understands the importance of keeping personal data private on the web, and set privacy settings so only friends and family can view your child’s social media profiles.

·         Request your child’s credit report: Contact the three credit bureaus to see if your child has a credit report. If a credit profile exists, identity theft could be a reason. Work with the credit bureaus to resolve errors. 

·         Watch the mail: Pre-approved credit card offers or bills in your child’s name are warning signs that he/she might have a stolen identity and an open credit file. Contact each sender and the three credit bureaus (Equifax™, Experian™ and TransUnion™) to suppress your child’s name and address.

·         Don’t carry or disclose you child’s Social Security number: Lock up your child’s Social Security card with other important documents. Though they are often requested when enrolling your children in daycare, summer camps and extracurricular activities, Social Security numbers typically don’t need to be shared unless there are tax implications. 

·         Use an identity protection service: Services like TrustedID can safeguard your entire family and alert you when there is unusual activity regarding credit or other sensitive info.