What is identity theft?
Identity theft is someone who has the intention to steal someone’s identity and pretend to be them. The reason behind it is for their benefit such as receiving money. An example: A person stole your social security number and with that, they can open a credit card under your name, committing credit card fraud. The most common frauds are credit cards, government benefits, loans or leases, and tax-related fraud. [1]
HOW ARE CHILDREN VULNERABLE TO IDENTITY THEFT?
Believe it or not, identity theft does happen to kids. Imagine you're a parent who overshares information about their child on social media. That information can include pictures, birthdates, full name, name of the school they attend, or sports they engaged in. This type of information is private and it should never be on a public platform. Social media collects our data and that means everything that you post online.
An individual can obtain all of the information that you have provided to them on a silver platter with a click of a button. If the individual wants more details, such as what city and state they live in, they can go to websites like CheckPeople or Whitepages. The individual can go to other websites and pay for even more private information like phone numbers, financial records, carrier information, etc. [2] It is that easy for an identity to get stolen!
In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported there were over 17,559 cases of claims of identity theft of kids under 19 years old. Based on the data from the FTC, the top theft type was employment or tax-related, followed by government documents or benefits, and credit card.
This data was taken from FTC website. [3]
How to protect children’s information online
Protect your children’s information at all costs. Data is the new gold and everyone wants it, especially scammers and hackers. Children’s information is never monitored and since they have no credit, that makes them a target. Many children won’t find out that they are part of an identity theft until they reach the age to apply for a student loan or their very first credit card. The best way to protect your children’s information online is to never post private information, monitor their social security for any suspicious activities, and monitor their social media activity.
Sources
[1] Klosowski, T. (2020, October 23). Most People Shouldn’t Pay for Identity Theft Protection. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/guides/identity-theft-protection/#what-is-identity-theft
[2] Kolb, A. (2024, February 29). Influencing a New Generation: Guardians’ Duties To Protect the Interests and Safety of Children on Social Media. Americanbar.org. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/family_law/resources/family-law-quarterly/2024-march/guardians-duties-protect-interests-safety-children-social-media/
[3] Explore Data with FTC. (2019, July 2). Federal Trade Commission. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/explore-data. The image of Explore Age and Fraud Loss 19 and under.