Identity Theft: A family Perspective

Recently, a Denver area economics teacher took her High School class on a field trip to a local bank to open checking accounts. More than 40% were unable to do so because their credit rations were too poor. One child had bad debts and fraudulent accounts dating into his pre-teen years. Have you checked your child’s financial temperature lately? Here is an article to reinforce my point.
Five years ago you may not yet have heard of Identity Theft. Two years ago Citibank had you laughing about it. One may think that ID Theft is only about credit cards. And if it happens to you they will make it right. Right? In many cases, wrong.
1 in 4 households will be impacted this year. More than 27,000 cases of financial fraud are reported daily to the credit repositories. Only 28% of the cases are Credit Card fraud. Personal information is very profitable, it transcends a country’s boarders, and a person’s age.
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The types of Identity Theft:
Social Security Identity Theft
Medical Identity Theft
Criminal Identity Theft
Driver’s license Identity Theft
Financial Identity Theft
Utility ID Theft
Identity Thieves treat personal data from children and adults much the same way, with one important distinction. That is, thieves create new credit accounts for child victims, whereas both new and existing accounts for adults. A new account can make ID Theft worse. Many victims of new accounts do not even realize the theft has occurred, which means the crime can go undetected for years.
Parents should protect documents and other information of the children. Do not carry Social Security cards in your wallet, and complain if your child’s school or physician requires social security numbers to identify students or patients. Here is a case of Teacher on Teacher IDT.
Identity Theft restoration can be complex. Be proactive in your family’s protection. While no system is perfect, address the problem properly. Have a 24/7 credit monitoring service, access to counsel, and a restoration plan (not just resolution or insurance) in place. PPLSI has services in place for about $1 a day to protect the family.
A CBS Article from May 26th, that reasserts this position.
to your success,
Jon
Your morning “Coffee”