Unfortunately in today’s world there is a definite need for child identity theft protection. Thieves have gotten smarter—or so they think—and are now looking toward children as a way to perform their crimes. As parents we need to take a proactive role in protecting our children and their financial futures.
Delta, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/08/2013 -- There is an increase in the instances of child identity theft with the most substantial increase being among children under five years of age. However, this does not mean these younger children are the only targets; the reality is child identity thieves are targeting children of all ages. Why are children so attractive to these thieves? They know the personal information of young children is accurate and not likely to be damaged. This is in addition to the knowledge that using the identity of young children allows the thefts to remain undetected for a longer period of time—sometimes many years.
Do not make the mistake of thinking you can identify an identity thief just on sight; they come in many different forms and can sometimes include people in the child’s family or those who have the obligation to protect children. It takes a great deal of time to undo the damage from identity theft and can burden the children and their parents with an enormous amount of debt as well as frustration and the effort they expended to resolve the problem. Part of the solution to this problem lies in developing a system of child identity theft protection.
There are some things you can do in the way of identity theft protection for children that will help you prevent child identity theft such as the following:
- Protect your children’s social security numbers from prying eyes
- Prevent intrusion by identity thieves by maintaining up to date anti-virus software on all computers and mobile devices
- Use passwords that are difficult to guess
- Be cautious when downloading information from the Internet
- Be careful when sharing information on social media sites
- Make sure you discuss Internet security and privacy on a regular basis with your children
- Review your children’s credit reports on a routine basis
While you can certainly consider subscribing to services that provide identity theft protection for children you want to conduct careful research. Child identity theft protection is important to your children’s future financial security, so you want to make sure you provide the best possible protection from the time they are very young.
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