What To Do if Someone Stole Your Child’s Identity

While having your own identity stolen is stressful and scary, you will likely be even more terrified if someone steals your child’s identity. Child identity theft occurs when someone steals a minor’s private information to open lines of credit, obtain loans or claim benefits in a child’s name. Based on data from Safe Home, 73% of child identity theft victims know the person who stole their identity, so it’s important to teach children strong online practices. If you believe someone has stolen your child’s identity, check their credit report, report the confirmed identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), contact the three major credit bureaus and freeze your child’s credit report.

Keep reading to learn how you can tell if your child’s identity has been stolen, what steps to take next and how to protect your children from identity theft in the future.

How to check if your child’s identity is stolen

You can check if your child’s identity has been stolen by seeing if your child has a credit report. Unless your child is an authorized user on your credit card, there is no reason they should have a credit report associated with their Social Security number (SSN) and name. You can check if your child has a credit report for free by requesting it on annualcreditreport.com.

6 steps to take if your child’s identity is stolen

If your child’s identity has been stolen, there are several steps you should take to protect their privacy, such as reporting the identity theft, filing a police report and freezing your child’s credit.

1. Report the theft to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will address your child’s identity theft by providing information from your report to law enforcement agencies. When you report your child’s identity theft, include as many details as possible about when it happened and any fraudulent activity in your child’s name. The FTC will use the information you give them to build a customized recovery plan to help recover your child’s identity.

2. File a police report

If you know who stole your child’s identity, file a police report immediately with your local police department. Be prepared to share details about the theft, your child’s information and the suspect’s name. Once you file a police report, the police can help corroborate your claim of fraudulent activity in your child’s name, which may strengthen your report to the FTC and credit bureaus.

3. Contact the three credit bureaus

You should contact each of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) to notify them of your child’s identity theft. By informing the credit bureaus of your child’s situation, they can remove any fraudulent accounts or notices from your child’s credit report. This ensures that only legitimate activity appears on their credit report and protects their credit score if they are an authorized user on your credit card. Contact Experian at 1-888-397-3742, TransUnion at 1-800-916-8800 and Equifax at 1-800-525-6285.

4. Freeze your child’s credit report

Once you’ve reported your child’s identity as stolen, you should place a freeze on their credit report. To do this, you’ll need to contact each of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) and complete a freeze request form. A credit freeze will prevent creditors from accessing your child’s credit report and approving new loans or lines of credit in your child’s name. If your child is a victim of identity theft, freezing their credit will prevent the identity thief from causing additional damage in their name.

5. Notify debt collectors of the theft

It’s important that you notify debt collectors of your child’s identity theft, as this removes the responsibility from your child for the debt created in their name by an unauthorized individual. If your child’s identity has been stolen and used to open lines of credit, you may begin receiving increased calls from debt collectors asking for your child. Informing debt collectors that your child’s identity has been stolen will help clarify the situation and may aid in recovering their credit.

6. Contact fraud departments of companies where accounts were opened

You should contact the fraud departments of companies where accounts were opened under your child’s name if your child’s identity has been stolen. When you contact these companies, ask them to close your child’s accounts and to send you written confirmation. As proof of your child’s identity and the theft, you may need to give these companies a copy of your child’s birth certificate or a copy of a police report if you filed one. With this information, companies can verify your child’s identity and close any fraudulently opened accounts.

How to protect your children from identity theft in the future

Child identity theft can have detrimental effects on your child’s credit, so it’s important to learn how to protect your children from having their identities stolen in the future.

Place your child as an authorized user on your credit card and freeze their credit

When you make your child an authorized user on your credit card, you help build their credit and begin teaching them how to manage their own finances. The minimum age for a child to be an authorized user on your credit card varies by credit card issuer, but generally, they need to be at least 13 years old. Adding your child as an authorized user gives them a credit report, so it’s important to freeze their credit to prevent an identity thief from using their name to open any lines of credit. In general, your child’s credit should be frozen unless you know they are going to use it, as this helps prevent identity theft.

Protect your child’s Social Security number (SSN)

Keep your child’s SSN safe both physically and digitally to prevent someone from stealing their identity. Most child identity theft incidents are committed by family members or those closest to your child, so it’s important to protect their SSN and additional private information. To keep your child’s SSN safe, store their physical Social Security card in a safety box that requires a code or key to access. Digitally, you can protect your child’s identity by storing a photocopy of their Social Security card or any digital documents containing sensitive information in a password manager like Keeper^®. Keeper Password Manager holds more than just passwords; it securely stores pictures, videos, PDFs, documents and other files related to your child’s identity in an encrypted vault.

Shred documents that contain your child’s personal information

If you no longer need documents containing your child’s SSN or other personal information, shred anything that could be stolen from your garbage or home. Dumpster diving is a popular way for identity thieves to find documents with private information, such as credit card details, SSNs and bank account numbers. Be sure to shred any documents with sensitive information before throwing them away to protect your child’s identity from being stolen.

Teach your child the importance of online safety

Educating children about online safety is important to do early and often, given how prevalent technology is in their lives. The more aware your child is of staying safe online, the less likely they are to fall for scams and have their identity stolen. Here are some things you can do to protect your children online:

• Inform your child about common scams to help them recognize suspicious interactions.
• Remind your child never to share personal information with strangers online, such as your home address or your child’s phone number.
• Install antivirus software on your child’s device to protect against malware and viruses.
• Keep your child’s devices updated with the latest software to prevent cybercriminals from exploiting security weaknesses.
• Enable parental controls when you can to monitor your child’s online activity and adjust their privacy settings.
• Use a password manager for your family to ensure your child always uses a strong, unique password on each account.

Keep your children’s identities protected against theft

Your family can stay protected against identity theft by investing in a password manager like Keeper Family Password Manager. With Keeper’s family plan, each member of your family will get their own digital vault to store passwords, passkeys and more in a secure and encrypted location. To access your vault, all you need to remember is your master password, which simplifies the password creation and storage process for everyone. When your child uses a password manager, their private information will be securely stored and can be easily shared with you or other family members.

Start a free 30-day trial of Keeper Password Manager to better protect your child’s identity and private information from falling into the wrong hands.