Child identity theft is a rapidly growing crime in the cyber age. Black parents need to be aware of the vulnerability of their child’s identity and what they need to do to protect it. Sadly most child identity theft is done by family members. Parents have used their child’s social security number and name to get credit cards and such basic services as phone and cable television. Its a ghetto move and we as black people know it happens.
As these children gets older and try to enter the working world they may discover that their credit is already screwed up thanks to mom or dad. If the child is college bound they may find that student loans are impossible to get due to bad credit. Even getting a cell phone might be impossible. The child starts life already handicapped with a deadbeat credit report.
But there are others that seek to steal a child’s identity and you have to watch out for them. Criminals love a child’s identity because it offers them almost limitless opportunity to get credit cards, loans, even cars and home mortgages. How? Because some credit reporting companies do not verify age of the applicant. So when a criminal applies for credit using a child’s social security number they may list their age as 24. And that’s the age the credit record will show. The actual age of the child, who’s social security number is used, doesn’t matter. The question now is how do you, as a parent, fight back.
One of the first things a parent needs to do to protect their child is to regularly check their child’s credit report using the free service at AnnualCreditReport.com. This should be performed at least once a year. If you have not done this there are some clues you should be aware of. These include;
- Check your child’s credit history and look for activity like credit cards in their name, especially store credit cards.
- You attempt to open a bank account for your child only to discover there is an account open with your child’s social security number or the bank denies you due to a history of bad checks.
- Your child applies for a student loan or credit card and is denied because of credit problems they were unaware of.
- Your child receives frequent offers for credit cards.
- Your child is receiving bills, bank statements or notices from collection agencies.
- Your child can’t get a driver’s license because someone else has a driver’s license using their social security number.Or there is a driving record associated with the child’s name that has outstanding citations.
- You are audited because someone else has claimed your child as a dependent.
- A letter from the IRS is sent to your child claiming they failed to file report income.
If you discover fraudulent activity using your child’s identity act immediately. You can place a freeze on your child’s credit profile and begin getting the situation corrected. You can also find information specifically for child identity theft at the Federal Trade Commission website.
Breaking It Down
Black parents are focused on giving their children every possible advantage. Lets face it, society is not always kind to us. We need to focus on protecting them not only from the things we know could hurt them but the hidden dangers of life. Black children need to know the value of their social security number and their identity. Start early with this education so they grow up knowing how easily an identity is stolen. Your child is probably online so you need to let them know they should never use their identity online or give any information to websites or even friends online. Black children need to learn the value of information early in life and understand where the threats are. Like that cell phone and their Facebook page or any other social media they maybe into. We often think of predators as pedophiles, and they really are a serious danger to our children, but we also need to be alert to information gathering websites. Especially product oriented websites, online gaming websites and free offers that come in our children’s email or text messages. Some predators just want information. Its up to you to educate your child to the dangers of the world, especially the cyber world.