Whenever September comes around, a new crop of youngsters set out to start kindergarten. This means a flurry of birth certificates and other identifying documents getting delivered to schools across the country. With all of this circulation, there is a risk of identity theft to some of the youngest American victims.
One of the worst issues here is that when someone has their identity stolen as a child, it is likely he or she won’t find out until between the ages of 16 and 21, whenever he or she tries to apply for that first piece of credit. Until then, the thief has free reign with the account, unless the child has an identity theft protection plan – which is often a piggyback on a parent or guardian’s policy.
A Carnegie Mellon study conducted in 2011 found that over 10% of children surveyed had someone else using their Social Security number. Many of the victims were younger than five, and one was only five months old. The advantage of stealing identities from children is that there are no blemishes on their credit, since they have never used any.
The FTC gives the following advice to parents enrolling their children in school for the first time:
- Ask if your child’s records will be held in a secure location in the school.
- Find out why personal information is needed before providing it, and opt out if you can.
- If the school has a directory of students, see what information goes into it before you agree to have your child featured.
- Before enrolling your child in after school activities, find out where the information from the registration forms will go. Some schools share who participates on the school’s or organization’s website.
- Shred all forms that you don’t need, and work to ensure that the school follows the same policy.
One other thing we’ll add to the FTC advice is to check if your child has a credit report, they shouldn’t. Either use www.annualcreditreport.com or sign your child up under your identity protection plan.