Protect Your Kid's Future By Protecting ID

Turning 18 comes with new set of privileges -- the ability to vote, apply for a car loan or activate cell phone service. Imagine trying to do one of those things and being denied because someone stole your identity years earlier.

Anne Wallace, president of the Identity Theft Assistance Center, said children are no greater or less a risk than adults. "It's just that we don't expect it to happen to them," she said.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, 5 percent of the complaints received in 2005 regarding identity theft were from individuals younger than age 18.

"In terms of consumers who've contacted us, the number is growing," says Joanna Crane, FTC spokeswoman. Complaints have risen 2 percent over the past two years.

Children's identities are stolen and then used to obtain credit cards, get driver's licenses or open accounts. Often the information is sold for use by illegal immigrants or individuals attempting to restart their lives and avoid arrest.

"One advantage from a criminal standpoint: The crime may not be discovered for a long period of time," Wallace said.

Linda Foley, founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center, said the problem is a credit issuer must try to authenticate who that person is and depending on the situation, it's difficult to authenticate who that person is.

According to Foley, it is easier to remedy the identity theft problem when the victim is still a child because a minor cannot enter into a legally-binding agreement.

Foley said adults will find out they were identity theft victims before they turned 18 once they apply for a college loan or cell phone service.

"There are more consequences because there are secondary problems the identity theft has created," she said.

She said they have to separate the criminal items that happened before the victim's 18th birthday from items that occurred after their 18th birthday.

Even worse, children can be targeted by their parents who have ruined their own credit.

Sometimes parents will open phone bills or utilities in their child's name.

If the criminal is personally known by the victim, there's a sense of betrayal. Foley said her organization has seen a lot of families that are torn.

She pointed out that there may be pressure not to turn the person in to police but even if the activity stops and the bill is paid, the damage is still on the credit report.

"It's still very upsetting because the people you should unconditionally trust is your family," she said.

Foley said the victims in these cases may want to talk to a professional with a background in psychology because it does affect relationships for the rest of their lives.

Preventing Child Identity Theft

Children's personal information must be protected in the same way as an adult's information in order to prevent identity theft.

Foley stressed not giving out a child's Social Security number unless it's absolutely necessary, such as for tax purposes. Parents also should not carry their child's Social Security number around with them. She said to ask a school what happens if parents don't give them their children's Social Security number if it's needed for things such as health or reduced-cost lunch programs.

Foley cautioned parents not put a child's name down for a lot of subscriptions because it becomes a marketing list. If possible, make sure the child's name is on a do-not-call list so they don't get credit card offers.

She said parents should monitor what their children are doing on the Internet because they may be giving out personal information that they shouldn't be giving out.

She said parents should teach children to shred things that have personal info, and to keep their belongings with them -- the same steps adults take.

Foley stressed a child should not have a credit report because there is nothing to check. She said if parents check their children's credit report it signals to credit reporting companies that the child is an adult.

She suggested that when the teen is 17 that they check their credit report before they start applying for student loans.

Foley advised parents to talk to their children about identity theft, saying it's part of teaching financial literacy.

"Unfortunately, they don't have the life experiences to disbelieve something the way a 40-year-old might," she said.

The Identity Theft Resource Center has a section for teens and their parents to learn and to engage in discussing the topic called Teen Space.

"We have to teach financial literacy to the extent that they need to know that is part of the world they're living in," Foley said. "We have to recognize that identity theft is not going away tomorrow."