lesly:-)usmile

The beast is growing: Child identity theft. This really gets my blood boiling because this is the type of crime you can’t catch! It just happens. Children make the PERFECT victim because it will take years for a parent to discover it unless you are proactive and protect BEFORE it happens to you.  Pre Paid Legal offers a plan to protect your children from birth to age 18. It covers up to four kids for $1.00 added on to a family membership.  I can give you more information about this. Just email me. info@usmileservices.com

The impact of identity theft can be devastating for you and your child. Please live smart and protect yourselves.

L

Here is a clip of info from the  Identity Theft Resource Center about Child Theft:

Fact Sheet 120
Identity Theft and Children

ABOUT THIS CRIME:

Typically identity theft falls into three categories:

Financial identity theft: This most commonly occurs when the Social Security Number (SSN) and name is used to establish new lines of credit.

What most people do not understand is that credit issuers may not have a way to verify the age of the applicant. The information on the application is typically taken at face value. This is particularly true with telephone and Internet applications. In person, few credit issuers request proof of identity, a driver’s license for instance. Even then, many clerks have not been trained on how to recognize counterfeited or altered licenses. For these reasons and others, issuers often will not know the true age of the applicant. This is a fault within our system that needs to be rectified.

A second mistaken concept is that the credit reporting agencies (CRAs) know that this application must be fraudulent because the applicant is a minor. Unfortunately, there is little, if any, sharing of information about the age of a person with Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. The age of the applicant becomes “official” with the first credit application. For example, if the first application indicates that the applicant is 24, the credit agencies believe that person is 24 until a dispute is filed and proven.

Criminal identity theft: This typically occurs when a person “borrows” the information of the minor to get a driver’s license or uses the child’s identity when caught in a criminal act. This person may be an illegal immigrant who bought the information or a relative who has had a license suspended or revoked.

Identity Cloning: Cloning is when a identity thief uses an identity for financial, criminal, and governmental purposes. Most frequently, profilers have people in positions where they are able to collect information about minors and then sell it on the black market. The most frequent purchasers of this information, in our experience, are illegal immigrants or people who are trying to “restart” their lives and avoid arrest. It is also an open door to terrorists.

Clones might also take advantage of the death of an infant or child. They go back into old newspaper records or death certificates (often found on the Internet) and find a person who would match the current imposter’s age. Then either counterfeit documents are made up or legitimate birth certificates are purchased through normal channels. Unfortunately, when a person dies, few, if any, county recorders then mark birth certificates as “deceased.” This allows thieves to purchase birth certificates of a person who has died and use it for identity theft. The ease in purchasing birth certificates depends on state laws. You should make sure your state is a “closed access” state, meaning that a limited number of people are allowed access to this information. For details on “Identity Theft and the Deceased” please go to the ITRC information guide on that topic.

MOMENT OF DISCOVERY:

Adult/Child Victims: These victims typically find out in the same manner as adult victims of identity theft. They:

• Are denied credit, mortgage or loan for a vehicle or college tuition
• Are unable to open a bank or checking account
• Receive collection notices in the mail or by telephone
• Are denied tenancy, utility or phone service
• Are denied driver’s license renewal 
•  Are discharged from a job or continually and unexplainably denied employment
• Are quoted higher than normal insurance rates
• Have been receiving bills or credit cards they never requested, perhaps for years
• Are notified by a law enforcement agency investigating a large case in which they happen to be a part of
• Are arrested for an activity they never committed
• Are denied SSI or welfare services
• Child Victims: Parents or relatives are usually the first to notice something is not quite right. Some of these cases involve split families (one of the parents is the perpetrator and the crime is exposed by the other, unoffending parent). Discovery often comes:
• When attempting to open a savings account or college fund for the child. In this scenario, an unoffending parent discovers that there is already an account with that SSN or that the new account is denied due to a bad check record
• When numerous pre-approved credit card offers come in the mail in the name of the child
• When credit cards, checks, bills or bank statements (not opened by a unoffending parent as a joint holder) are sent in the name of the child
• When collection agencies call or send letters about accounts not opened by the child
• When a teen is denied the right to get a driver’s license because another person has a license with that SSN as ID. The imposter may even have accumulated tickets or citations in the child’s name
• While going through papers during a divorce or while straightening up the house (Parental identity theft)
• When law enforcement comes to the door with a warrant for an arrest of the child