05.25.08
Identity Theft: Hey Mom…I’m $100,000 in debt
I have to admit, children’s Identity theft has never been top of mind for me. In fact, when it comes to children related theft the first things that come to my mind are lockers broken into or stolen bicycles. But, kids and ID theft seem to be making the forefront of the news lately.
According to the FTC, 400,000 kids per year have their identity stolen. Who would steal a child’s ID and how would we even know it’s stolen? Unfortunately kids are the best targets for identity theft because their credit is completely clean. A care taker, relative or even a parent is typically the culprit. What’s worse is most times a child doesn’t even know their ID is stolen until they apply for their first car loan or credit card or even a student loan for college. By that time, they might have multiple credit cards with credit lines in the thousands of dollars and they might also be in major debt.
A few tips:
- Don’t carry any social security cards with you
- Beware if your child begins to receive pre approved credit card applications in the mail or cannot open up a checking or savings account
- Also beware if your child is denied car insurance or drivers license renewal
- Teach your kids not to give out their social security number to anyone without your approval and be especially aware of phishing type emails on the internet
So the next time my kids leave the house do I need to make sure they lock up their ID’s as well as their bikes? Has any one’s child ever been the victim of identity theft? Could you please share your experiences and what you have learned so others may take precaution?
Stumble it!
beth said,
May 28, 2008 at 11:52 am
Since my child is only 8 months old, this hasn’t happened yet, but my mother-in-law did tell me that while watching the BBC channel, there was a big story on how identity theives are able to get info for identity theft through facebook. Since we provide the basic info on there - like name, birthdate, etc., it’s enough to get these identity theives a head start on stealing our identities.
Something to think about and monitor as we allow our kids (and ourselves!) acess to facebook and/or other social networks…
CreditMom said,
May 29, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Pefect example of kids and ID Theft from Yahoo!Answers @ http://www.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061129175528AAlS1BO.”I (minor) just bought a visa debit card, and my mom won’t let me activate it.?I’m 15, and I just bought a visa debit/prepaid card from HEB/netspend.com, and was told that in order to activate it, I was told that I needed to fax them my mom’s social security card, my birth certificate, and my social security card. I told my mom that and she got mad and told me that is private information and a social security card should be kept to one’s self. What do I tell her? I mean, it’s visa isn’t it? What do I say?”"But I bought the card at HEB, and it’s labeled with the visa sign, both big businesses. Isn’t that trustworthy enough?”Also gives some more food for thought on teens and credit cards!
lindsey said,
June 9, 2008 at 9:14 pm
About the HEB pre-paid card….I’ve bought plenty of those as gifts and never have had to issue any sort of ID (drivers license or otherwise) to have them “activated”. You add the money when you buy it, and it’s automatically activated.
Sounds a little peculiar that a pre-paid card would need the mother’s social security card, his BC and his social security card.
More food for thought. The other day I received a phone call from Visa - saying that my payment was due - I knew that I had sent it in already and the check had already been cashed. They asked for a social security verification….to which I told them that they called me, and should know. I asked them for the card number, to which they gave the wrong card number…. After a few calls to my real credit card company, I found that there are people that are hoping that people just won’t pay attention and will just shell out the money. I’m glad I had my head with my that day…had I been sidetracked, I might have. Scary stuff.
iphones said,
July 17, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I searched for \’Pre Paid Phone Cards\’ at google and found this your post (\’y Theft: Hey Mom…I’m $100,000 in debt | Credit Mom\’) in search results. Not very relevant result, but still interesting to read.
Daniel Craig said,
July 25, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Hi, I was looking around for a while searching for identity theft security and I happened upon this site and your post regarding y Theft: Hey Mom…I’m $100,000 in debt | Credit Mom, I will definitely this to my identity theft security bookmarks!
Currencies Trading said,
July 27, 2008 at 6:06 am
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Instant Approval Credit Cards said,
July 29, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Nice topic you have started.
Frankie Micheletti said,
August 7, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Dear Credit Mom, I read everything and yes it is very alarming that childrens identity is stolen not to mention adults. I am a Independent Associate of a NYSE company called Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. You may have heard of it or be a member or associate yourself. This is for all citizens and I strongly encourage you to look at my website and spread the good news. We just finished a 10 month TV campaign on Court TV now called TRU TV to get the word out. We teamed up with Kroll Background America who is world wide for Identity Theft. Visit (Kroll.com) and mine is (prepaidlegal.com/hub/micheletti47). The two are over 35 years old companies. I am also a process server of the court and served one two months ago to a couple in their late 70’s and it was identity theft. Many companies serve people anymore to collect monies or other damages someone has done in your name. The main website for this company is (prepaidlegal.com). Kroll even assigns each member with their own private investigator which is very cool. You are not on your own !! There are around 50 companies that have this as an employee benefit. Check it out Credit Mom and my phone number also is on my website too. EVERYONE IS AT RISK !!!! You may want to consider to be an associate and I will tell you how to do that although you can sign up for that on my website too and depending on which state you live in I can provide the training for you too. They both are solic rock companies. Thank you for putting your story on the web. You and your family take great care. Sincerely, Frankie
iindhira said,
December 9, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I apply for a credit cards and I kept on getting denide…and from one of them I got a letter saying that I have a delincuant past….I’m was like wtf…my b.f told me to check it out….and It never got brought up again….7 months later….I remember what happened…and my b.f starts checking my credit report and he finds out that in 2003 my mom had put the house phone under my name and never payed it and also put the house phone under my name so I was in debt for 313$ and it was already filed to the credit buro…smh…noe I’m sitting on my bed…(I live with her) thinking if I should take this to court…..and if I do I need to find a place to live …cause my family will all hate me for this.=( the life of iindhira..smh