Most likely, if a child under 18 becomes a victim of identity theft, it’s because a parent or relative stole the child’s personal information and used it for identification or to obtain credit. When the child finds out what has happened, it can take quite an emotional toll on the family.
First of all, the child, naturally, could feel betrayed by the family member if he or she is old enough to understand what the crime entails. Secondly, other family members may become angry or resentful of the family member –and even of the child. It’s important for others close to the child to be supportive of the victim, not to make out the thief to be the actual victim, due to financial hardship or what have you.
Another problem in cases of child identity theft is that the child and his or her close family may be encouraged not to file a police report solving the crime. The problem with sweeping the theft under the rug, so to speak, and simply paying off the debts incurred in the child’s name, is that it could make it look like the theft didn’t actually occur and the unpaid debts are actually the child’s fault.
In order to get the child’s credit record cleared, a police report is essential. Even if you, or some other family member, feels bad for the person who committed the crime (possible because they are a family member), it is imperative to get it on record. Otherwise, the credit errors could follow the child around for the next decade or longer – potentially affecting his or her ability to purchase a car or a house in the future.
To keep child identity theft from running in your family, you may want to look into identity theft protection plans for all the kids. We currently recommend LifeLock and TrustedID for your child’s identity protection.
Even if you believe that none of your family members would commit such a crime, it is better to be prepared than to be blindsided. Last year, a full seven percent of identity theft victims in the United States were age 19 or younger, and seven percent of 11 million is a whole lot of people. If this doesn’t worry you, it should. That number is only likely to get larger in upcoming years.
Learn more about child identity theft by reading these other blog posts.