Identity Theft no longer only applies to adults – it now affects our children.  Follow these simple steps and watch for these little clues to keep your Family Secure Child Identity Theft.

Identity Theft criminals now target child identities because they are easier to use for a longer period of time before the victim catches on to what is happening.

Criminals now commit child identity theft because this info is usually less protected, never monitored, and does not have bad credit history which makes it easier for a criminal to open lines of credit in the childs name.

Steps to watch for to keep your Family Secure from Child Identity theft are the following:
- Credit Card offers start showing up in the mail with your child’s name on the application
- Credit Card companies call and ask for your child by name
- Decline letter for credit shows up in your child’s name
- Magazine Subscriptions, Junk Mail, or other out of the ordinary mail shows up in your childs name.
These are major clues that most likely your child’s identity has been stolen.

Steps to take – Child Identity Theft Protection
- Make sure the child has access to legal counsel at all times
- Children are protected under family legal and identity theft protection plan
- Child Birth Certificates and Documenation is safely stored (bank vault is ideal)
- Shred all forms to be thrown away that has anything to do with your childs info (Name, address, dob, etc)

If a childs identity is stolen it is almost guaranteed that the child will spend the rest of their lifetime trying to rebuild and clean up their credit profile and will experience a harder than desireable time applying for any type of credit in the future.

Identity theft is happening at a staggering pace and it is now a matter of “when, not if it will happen.”