Child Identity Theft

Why children are targeted

• •Clean SSN. No existing credit file, no fraud alerts, no monitoring.
• •Long runway. Years before the child applies for anything requiring a credit check.
• •Family access. A distressing number of child-ID-theft cases involve parents, relatives, or caregivers.
• •Data breaches. Pediatric medical records, school records, and state-agency databases have all been breached.

Signs a child's identity has been stolen

• •Mail addressed to the child from banks, lenders, or debt collectors.
• •IRS notice of taxes owed for income in the child's name.
• •Pre-approved credit offers addressed to the child.
• •Denial of a government benefit (e.g., Medicaid, food assistance) because the child is listed as having income.
• •At 18: denial of student loans, apartment rental, or first credit card.

How to check if your child has a credit file

Normally, a child should have no credit file. To check:

1. 1.Contact each bureau (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) by mail, as a parent or guardian, and request a "manual search" for a file under the child's SSN.
2. 2.You will need to provide proof of your identity, proof of your relationship (birth certificate), and the child's SSN.
3. 3.If a file exists and the child is under 16, that file is almost certainly fraudulent.

Freeze your child's credit — before there's a problem

Federal law (the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018) requires the nationwide CRAs to place a freeze on the file of a "protected consumer" — a child under 16, or an incapacitated adult — on request from a parent or guardian. If no file exists, the CRA mustcreate a record and freeze it.

This is proactive protection. Freeze your child's credit at all three bureaus (and at Innovis, NCTUE, ChexSystems, and LexisNexis) before anything happens.

If fraud has already occurred

1. 1.File an FTC Identity Theft Report at IdentityTheft.gov on the child's behalf.
2. 2.File a police report — especially important if a family member is responsible.
3. 3.Dispute each fraudulent tradeline with the credit bureaus, following the same process as for adult identity theft — certified mail, FTC report, ID, proof of age.
4. 4.Write to each furnisher demanding closure and cessation of reporting under § 623.
5. 5.If the IRS is involved, file Form 14039 on the child's behalf.