Identity thieves also target kids

By Barbara Green

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The local advisory council of the Better Business Bureau wants to help you prevent identity theft. This has affected 12 million Americans in the past year. That is an astonishing figure - 5 percent of all adults 16 and older.

The unsung victims, though, are our children. Our council voted to make this our local campaign to inform our parents, grandparents, teachers and others who have connections to a child.

Children have unused and unvarnished credit. This is why they are 51 times more likely to have their identities stolen. Years can pass before the theft is discovered. This can have devastating effects on their future.

They could start their adulthood with a low credit rating, be denied admittance to college, be turned down for a car loan or a first apartment rental, be passed over for a new job or be arrested on a warrant for a crime they did not commit.

The thief may even be a relative with bad credit who is desperate and uses the child's Social Security number as a short-term fix, but with long-term consequences. Or it could be an employee at a day care, a doctor or dentist's office, a sport application form, organizations such as the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, a cleaning service or a social networking site where an adult “befriends” your child and then asks for personal information.

Identity thieves attach your child's SSN to a different name and date of birth. This is why many credit reports miss the majority of cases. Ask for a manual “walk through” when checking on your child's credit report.

Some advice

The Better Business Bureau has suggestions for parents or guardians:

l First, call each credit bureau: Experian, 1-(800) 397-3742; TransUnion, 1-(800) 916-8800; and Equifax 1-(800) 685-1111). Freeze their credit report so it cannot be used to open a credit card account. Order a free credit report. Ask if there is an active credit profile. Use an identity monitoring service such as idRadar.com for you and your family that alerts you when any account is established in your name.

l Second, watch for mail in your child's name. Why would they receive credit card applications?

l Stop giving out your child's personal information. Leave the space blank on all forms that ask for their SSN. Ask why they need it. Ask about how it is stored and for how long. Otherwise, they don't need it. Educate your children on the importance of protecting their personal information - SSN, passwords, account and PIN numbers. These are private.

l Lastly, lock all forms of identification. Do not give out your SSN to anyone on the phone, an Internet site, or when ordering anything online.

If you discover fraudulent activity, immediately contact the police, the source of the fraud and the credit bureaus. Save all correspondence. This may be used in courtroom cases when and if it comes to that. You have to prove your innocence.

How bad it can be

We did receive a report that a 9-year-old girl discovered she had 40 credit card accounts and was more than a million dollars in debt. This took years to erase. Her parents almost lost their home and their entire life savings.

Your local office of the BBB has fliers for you with these suggestions and to distribute to your friends, family and neighbors. The school district has been supportive of this project. Churches, day cares and offices with professional services can also help us distribute this information.

Please contact us with any concerns or questions: iowa.bbb.org, 1-(800) 222-1600 or (319) 365-1190. My email is bgreen@dm.bbb.org. Our services are free to the public and we are available to answer any questions.

Help us help you protect your children from these aggressors.

Barbara Green is the director of the Cedar Rapids/Corridor branch of the Better Business Bureau. Comments: bgreen@dm.bbb.org