The Hidden Cost Of Identity Theft Against Children
Identity theft against children is the fastest growing sector in reported identity theft complaints, according to the Federal Trade Commission. And often times parents cannot be trusted to protect their children because the majority of child identity thefts are family members.
Children need to be protected by greedy or misled relatives, and the government must offer them aid. Likewise, corporate financial institutions that have offered forgiveness to adult identity theft victims must develop the same sympathies for child identity theft victims.
Fastest Growing Segment Of Complaints Of Identity Theft
In just two years time, the The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) discovered that the incident of complaints of child identity theft rose from 2% of the total reports to 4%. This is the fastest growing category of identity theft complaints, and is projected to continue in this trend. Many of these crimes were committed years before, and are only noticed as individuals become more aware and begin to look deeper into their children’s credit reports.
The FTC believes that not enough of these crimes are being noticed in adequate time. The FTC estimates that a half of a million children fall victim to identity theft each year, however only about ten- or fifteen thousand are reported annually. Often times the lack of incident reporting is because the people who are responsible to protect the child from such theft are the one’s stealing their identity.
Majority Of Child Identity Thefts Committed By Family Members
Close family members or parents are at the root of more that 50% of complaints of identity theft against a child. Identities were usually stolen in times of great need, to pay for utilities, food, or prevent the loss of a vehicle.
Typically the parents justify the behavior by claiming it was for the best of the child at the time. It can be difficult for these individuals to look ahead five or ten years and see how a ruined credit report can really devastate the child. Most of the time, the family members have the good intention of keeping up with the payments and never intend to put a negative mark on their child’s credit history.
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