Child identity theft protection guide featured on About.com Fatherhood blog

Posted by Joe on March 12th, 2008

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Wayne Parker, the author of the About.com Fatherhood Guide, was gracious enough to cover our child identity theft protection guide on his Fatherhood blog last week.

As I mentioned when we launched the child identity theft protection guide last month, we were extremely shocked to find that children were the fastest growing segment of identity theft victims.

Thank you, Wayne, for helping us raise the awareness  of this important issue among your readership.

If you are a parent and haven’t already read our our child identity theft protection guide, we strongly suggest you do so.  It contains eight simple, common sense tips that will help you safeguard your children from identity thieves.

• Help us help you protect yourself from identity theft
• 8 tips to protect your children from identity theft
• Data Breach Alert: Over 200 child identities exposed in UK
• Experian says 55% of child identity thefts perpetrated by family members
• Reader Question: Will my LifeLock or Equifax account also cover my spouse?

Data Breach Alert: Over 200 child identities exposed in UK

Posted by Joe on March 5th, 2008

A laptop containing the names, addresses, dates of birth and history of medical treatment of 238 children was stolen from a medical center in the UK.

A thief simply walked into a medical center in Telford, England, unplugged the laptop and walked off with it. The laptop had access to England’s National Health Service system but officials deactivated that access as soon as the theft was uncovered. It is not believed that the thief gained access to any information beyond the 238 identities that were stored locally on the laptop.

As we have previously reported, child identity theft is a major risk in the United States as well. You can learn more in our Child Identity Theft Protection Guide.

• Data Breach Alert: Stolen laptop impacts Virginia school employees
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• Experian says 55% of child identity thefts perpetrated by family members

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 thougt 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.

• Data Breach Alert: Over 200 child identities exposed in UK
• Child identity theft protection guide featured on About.com Fatherhood blog
• Help us help you protect yourself from identity theft
• 8 tips to protect your children from identity theft
• Reader Question: Will my LifeLock or Equifax account also cover my spouse?

Identity theft finds a new target - your kids!

Posted by Joe on December 19th, 2007

We already know that identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States, but what is the fastest growing segment of identity theft vicitims? Kids!

According to the FTC, 5% of the 255,000 victims of identity theft in 2005 where under the age of 18 which is up 40% from 3% in 2003. Most of these cases take place very early on with over half occurring prior to the age of 6 according to the Identity Theft resource Center.

Unfortunately, these cases can be hard to track because children don’t apply for credit or review a credit report to identify suspicious activity. That being said, there are steps that parents can take to lower the risk of their kids becoming victims of identity theft.

First, keep social security cards out of kids hands. In fact, no one in your family at any age should be carrying a social security card. We recommend that you keep all of your families sensitive documents in a home safe, safety deposit box or at least a locked filing cabinent.

Next, keep a look out for any suspicious mail that arrives at your house in your child’s name. If credit card offers, late payment notices or other suspicious items show up, don’t assume they are mistakes. Follow up with the company that sent them to determine the reason they were sent in the first place.

Finally, keep in mind that if your child can be a victim you certainly can as well! Take proactive measures to protect your own identity. We always recommend using a identity theft prevention service like LifeLock or TrustedID to keeps tabs on any suspicious activity. Read our in-depth comparison and reviews of identity theft prevention services to learn more.

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• Reader Question: Will my LifeLock or Equifax account also cover my spouse?