Experian says 55% of child identity thefts perpetrated by family members

Posted by Joe on December 20th, 2007

We have reported previously on the growing threat of child identity theft and thought that some recent statistic released by Experian were important to share with our readers.

These numbers were based on a recent Experian/Gallup poll that attempted to gauge consumer perceptions on child identity theft.

• 7 percent of consumers reported they know someone who has a child that was a victim of identity theft
• 55 percent of consumers who knew someone who had a child whose identity was stolen, said the person who stole the child's identity was a family member, while 33 percent said it was a non-family member
• 54 percent believe it is very likely that someone could use information from the Internet to steal a child's identity
• 19 percent believe a child's personal information from extracurricular activities such as a sports program could be used to steal their identity
• When asked to estimate out of every 100 children, how many have had their personal information stolen, the average estimate was 23 out of every 100

The two things that really struck us about these stats were that 7 percent of consumers knew a child that had been a victim of identity theft and that in 55 percent of those case the id thief was a family member.

As the threat of child identity theft and identity theft in general grows in the United States, we continue to strongly advise that everyone use an identity theft prevention service to take proactive preventative measures from being victimized.

Read our in-depth reviews and comparisons of identity theft services to learn more.

• Identity Theft Shield from Kroll and Pre-Paid Legal Review
• Does TrustedID protect my children from identity theft and if so, how is it done?
• Equifax continues to offer FICO despite Experian dropping the popular score
• Data Breach Alert: Over 200 child identities exposed in UK
• Identity Theft Expert Answers: Robert Siciliano of IDTheftSecurity.com