Nathan was aged only 14, but his credit history has been turned, courtesy of a decade unpaid bills and credit card default home loans.
Of course, it was not Nathan who made all these summary movements-it was an identity thief who accessed the social security number of the child Kentucky (SSN) nearly 10 years earlier to fraudulently finance houses, cars and more.
An isolated case? Barely. Theft of the identity of children is booming, according to a groundbreaking study by Carnegie Mellon CyLab of. This research, which includes Nathan's history, identity of foundlings are stolen 51 times more often than adults.
All too easy targets
Experts say children are easy targets largely because they do not do things like open bank accounts, apply for jobs or take loans which would make them aware of problems on their credit report. As a result, thieves can often use the identity of a child for years-even decades with impunity.
"Many parents do not know that the information their child is of considerable value," said Lt. Robert Chappell, a veteran of 27 years in the state police in Virginia and author of Child identity Theft. what every parent needs to know "as a society, we have become more aware of identity theft. If parents do not become educated on the risks, it only will get worse. "
The report details how the thieves CyLab the identity of children used to buy houses and cars, accounts opened by map credit, a secure job, obtain driving licenses and medical care. of the more than 40,000 children examined in the study, more than 4,000 were victims of identity theft. many cases have been more a suspect linked to the identity of the victim, and 303 victims were under five.
How are things
Crooks take advantage of the identity of children of several different ways. Two of the most common include :.
- Handling a thief steals the identity of any child, but changes the birth date to reflect the age adult.
- synthetic identity theft. In this case, a thief uses the name of a child, the social security number of another child and a false birth date to commit fraudulent activities.
studies show that almost a quarter of all cases are flights "friends" in which family members abuse the privacy of the child. In other cases, the personal information of a child is accessible places such as a school, a doctor's office or online.
undo the damage
It can take years or decades to discover the child's identity has been stolen. The realization usually occurs when a minor applies for college or a job, or when the youth is seeking his first loan or credit bank card.
In addition to being scary, identity theft is too long and costly. Parents are often left with the dirty work to undo the damage, which usually involves countless hours working with law enforcement, credit agencies, lawyers and government officials to restore the good name of their child .
Moreover, a bad credit can cause significant delays or even cost a victim of a loan or a job. Sometimes creditors even reclaim the child or parent for fraudulent debts.
What is a parent to do?
Fortunately, there are precautions that reduce the risk of your child becoming a victim.
- Use extra precautions to school. Ask how your child's personal information will be used before sharing it, and verify that sensitive documents are stored in safe and secure locations. Also think twice about having your child enrolled in a school yearbook from thieves could easily get a copy.
- Keep SSNs under wraps. Keep your Social Security number for your child in a security safe or locked trunk. Always ask someone asks him how it will be used and whether another form of identification can work. Teach your child to be as selective reveal his SSN to anyone.
- Monitor the mail. A credit card offering, performance or letters of the income tax from a collection agency in your child's name are all signs that something is happening.
- request an annual credit report and a manual search. It is good practice to obtain a credit report for your child each year. Visit annualcreditreport.com to order a free report.
While a credit report shows if someone is illegally using the name of your child, only a manual search will reveal whether the Social Security number for your child is used under a different name. The credit bureaus are required to perform a manual search at no cost when requested, Chappell said.
- Report of the problems as soon as possible. Do not wait to file a police report if the identity of your child is at risk.
Always worried about identity theft? ERIE can help
You can yourself and everyone in your household with the cover to protect ERIE identity recovery. Covered costs include lost wages, costs of monitoring children or elderly parents while you arrange things, certain legal expenses, expenses for filler applications and more. Available for about $ 20 a year, coverage Identity Recovery you and someone else as a child living at home or go to college-which is a part of your household.
The cover also provides the services of identity recovery protects loaded files. "If an identity is stolen, the expert assigned to a case will all the steps," said Joe Vahey, ERIE vice present and personal lines product manager. "This coverage provides peace of mind because you know you will not have to deal with this situation and all the hassle it creates itself. "(a good thing for the victims of identity theft facing a cost of $ 631 on average out-of-pocket . They also spend an average 33 hours undoing the damage.)
for more on this affordable coverage, contact your local agent or visit ERIE erieinsurance.com.
0 Komentar