Robbing the Cradle: Protect Your Child from ID Theft
By Rick Hazeltine
Staff Editorial Writer
Jason Truxel was denied a mortgage last summer, which is nothing unusual in this day of falling housing markets and tighter credit. But when Truxel was told poor credit was the reason, he was confused.
When he discovered his credit report was rife with accounts he did not open, he decided to drive home to Ohio to talk about the problem with his father, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
When he arrived at the house he shared with his father for 20 years, Jason said he found a stack of 15 credit cards held together by a rubber band in a dresser.
"Every single card had my name on it," Truxel, 27, told the Plain Dealer. "The whole dresser was nothing but bills, and all of them were in my name."
Michael Truxel, Jason's father, has denied knowledge of the credit cards but the Cleveland police are investigating, as, reportedly, is the U.S. Secret Service, which investigates credit card fraud.
Unfortunately, identity theft against children is one of the fastest growing areas of identity theft.
While adults are taking measure to protect their identity, they often forget about their children, who are even more vulnerable because it can take years to learn of the crime.
The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs noted that because children must have a Social Security number to be claimed as a dependent on tax returns, nearly all children have a SSN.
Surprisingly, it is often a parent, other family member or friend that steals the child's identity to get credit cards, loans or rent an apartment. Sometimes the identity thief steals the child's identity because they have terrible credit. Other times, it's just greed.
The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs noted a case in another state where an uncle stole his infant nephew's SSN. When the nephew began shopping for a car loan at age 18, he found himself $22.5 million in debt. The theft took years and thousands of dollars in legal fees to correct.
Teens are also becoming frequent identity theft victims, especially with the increase of social networking that often encourages the sharing of personal information. Once personal information has been posted online, its permanent cyber-fingerprint remains for identity theft scammers to find.
