The Rise In Complaints Of Identity Theft Against Children

Identity Fraud - 
Studies done by the Federal Trade Commission have shown identity theft against children to be the fastest growing sector reporting complaints of identity theft. In many cases the children can’t even trust their parents to protect them because sadly family members commit the majority of child identity thefts. The government needs to step in and take measures to protect children from greedy or misled relatives. In addition, corporations who have taken steps to be more forgiving to adult victims of identity theft have to become more understanding when dealing with complaints of child identity theft.

Fastest Growing Segment Of Complaints Of Identity Theft

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) discovered that the incident of complaints of child identity theft rose from 2% of the total reports to 4% in only two years. This makes it the fastest growing segment of identity theft complaints, and it is only expected to grow more in the next few years. Many of these crimes were committed years ago and as individuals become more aware and look deeper into their children credit reports, the complaints of identity theft against children will most likely flood into the FTC’s hotline.

The FTC estimates that a half of a million children fall victim to identity theft each year, however only about ten- or fifteen thousand are reported annually. This statistic leads the FTC to believe that not enough of the crimes are being noticed quickly enough. The reason behind this is often that the people responsible for protecting their child’s identity until they are old enough to do it for themselves are often the very same individuals stealing the child’s identity.

Majority Of Child Identity Thefts Committed By Family Members

More that 50% of complaints of identity theft against a child leads back to the parents or other close family members. Usually the identity was stolen in times of extreme need, either to avoid losing utilities or to keep a working vehicle. Typically the parents justify the behavior by claiming it was for the best of the child at the time. It can be difficult for these individuals to look ahead five or ten years and see how a ruined credit report can really devastate the child. Most of the time, the family members have the good intention of keeping up with the payments and never intend to put a negative mark on their child’s credit history.

What Can Be Done To Avoid These Identity Theft Complaints?

The government needs to step in and pass laws allowing deeper checks when applying for credit. The credit reporting agencies should set up credit reports so that the critical information is more evident to agencies inquiring about credit history. Safeguards should be set up to make it less difficult for these poor victims to erase the negative accounts from their reports. Most of all, utility and credit card companies have to step up and be more vigilant when checking out someone’s credit report. Stop handing out credit cards to 5-year-olds, really.

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