Identification theft is a growing concern amongst Americans, and rates amongst the top 5 grievances received by states’ Attorney General’s offices. A stolen identification can lead to tens of 1000′s of dollars worth of debt in the victim’s title and it can consider many years to totally undo the damage carried out to the victim’s credit score report. Identification thieves can effectively commit crime with as little as a driver’s license quantity or credit score card quantity, but the ideal target of this kind of criminals is the Social Safety quantity. With that quantity in hand, the identification thief can pass on their own off as the victim and open credit score card accounts, financial institution accounts, and even acquire home equity loans. As more Americans become aware of the problems posed by identification theft, customers are doing more to safeguard on their own. This has inspired thieves to appear to a new source of identities to steal, and they have found 1. They are now stealing the identities of children.

Established in the 1930′s the Social Safety Administration was set up to provide advantages for retired Americans. Taxes are withdrawn from the paychecks of eligible employees, and every employee is issued a Social Safety quantity in purchase to maintain track of his or her advantages. Over the many years, and despite the intentions of those who created the system, the Social Safety quantity has become a de facto nationwide identification quantity. It is difficult, if not not possible, to engage in most monetary transactions without supplying that quantity to the other celebration in the transaction. In fact, the quantity itself has become as important as the title of the individual who retains it. Over the many years, criminals have found that by acquiring the Social Safety quantity of somebody else, all kinds of illegal actions are feasible, such as acquiring loans in the names of the owner’s of the stolen numbers.

With more people now aware of the potential of identification theft, customers are more cautiously protecting their personal info. As a result, thieves are now focusing on the Social Safety numbers of children. A law handed in 1989 demands parents of newborn infants to register for a Social Safety quantity for their child. That child will most likely not need that quantity till he or she is a teenager, when the quantity may be essential to acquire a driver’s license, open a financial institution account, or get a task. In the meantime, the quantity is not only unused, but the theft of it might go unnoticed. Thieves who acquire a Social Safety quantity of a child know that they can most likely use it for a ten years without being caught. How can you safeguard your child from identification theft? Deal with your child’s personal info as if it were your personal, and guard it cautiously. Don’t give out the Social Safety quantity of your child unless of course it is absolutely essential, and if you aren’t certain if it’s essential, inquire. Some physicians and hospitals, for instance, request the quantity as a matter of course, but they might not actually need it.

Check to see if your child has a credit score report. You can acquire 1 for free at the free credit report Web site. Your child, if not operating, shouldn’t have a credit score report, so if the credit score bureaus have 1 on file, you might have a problem. A child’s personal info is as useful to an identification thief as that of an adult. Guard yours and your children’s identification cautiously.

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Charles Essmeier is the proprietor of Retro Advertising, a firm devoted to informational Web sites, such as Finish-Your-Financial debt.com, a website devoted to personal bankruptcy, debt consolidation and credit score counseling, and HomeEquityHelp.com, a website devoted to info concerning mortgages and home equity loans.