Your Children’s SSNs – the New Identity Threat
In the United States it is often recommended that parents get a social security number for their newborn children. You can apply for your child’s SSN when you submit an application for their birth certificate. You need to have this number in order to claim your child as a dependent on your tax return. This number is also necessary if you wish to apply for government services for your child and open a bank account in their name. Unfortunately, obtaining a SSN for your child can also attract identity thieves.
Consumers are becoming more aware of the risk of identity theft so are taking more precautions. This has caused would be thieves to investigate other supplies of identities to pilfer. Children’s SSNs have provided this new source for them. Children are ideal victims because they have a clean credit history and no criminal record.
So consider this: You give birth to your child and register them for a SSN. Your child will probably not need that number for a good many years, at least not until they are old enough to drive or get a job. This gives the identity thieves at least a decade to use that SSN if they get their hands on it. Ten years of using that number for a false identity to get money or commit a crime in your child’s name. At least ten years of the crime going undetected.
So what can you do to stop this happening? Follow the same safety precautions you would if you were guarding your own SSN.
1. Never give out your child’s SSN unless absolutely necessary. Always ask why the number is needed if it is requested.
2. Keep the number hidden safely at home.
3. Obtain a free credit report in your child’s name. If you child is not working they should not have a credit report in their name. If there is one, undoubtedly your child’s identity has been stolen.
Unfortunately, children’s SSNs have opened the door to a new type of identity thief – parents. A small number of parents are using their child’s SSN number to set up credit accounts and spend in their children’s name. The child will not find out about this practice for years. And by the time they do find out, there will be black marks against their names in terms of credit reliability. Parents put their children in impossible situations doing this as the child will then have to prove their accounts were opened fraudulently – by their parents. Some children are not willing to do this. The ‘bad credit’ notes on their files will remain there for seven years giving them low credit scores. This will make obtaining credit, gaining future employment and applying for housing loans very difficult.
Credit issuers may not always ask for proof of age when opening new accounts, which is how identity thieves (be it parents or others) get away with using children’s SSNs. Guard your child’s SSN. You don’t want an identity thief getting hold of it.
LifeLock is the only Identity Theft Prevention Solution backed by a one-million dollar guarantee!Click here to get a 10% discount.
