While it is common knowledge that businesses and individuals are becoming victims of identity theft in increasing numbers, did you know that child identity theft is also on the rise?
Credit histories of children are often nonexistent; because of this, criminals may be able to get away with stealing a child’s identity for a prolonged period because most people do not typically check their child’s credit reports. Since most children do not use credit cards, there may be no warning signs that anything is out of the ordinary until our children try to obtain credit, loans, or jobs.
While adults can put a hold on their lines of credit, we don’t usually think of doing this as a preventative measure for our children. The accompanying infographic highlights more key information on the subject. It displays the reasons why children and adolescents are at risk, the basic signs of child identity theft, and ways to help protect our teens and children from becoming victims of this crime.
