If your child begins to receive offers for preapproved credit cards, it may strike you as annoying or silly, but don’t throw them in the recycling without a second thought. This could be a sign that your family is the victim of child identity theft. Nearly 3 percent of U.S. households with children under 18—or one in 40 households—have been struck by child identity theft, according to the Identity Theft Assistance Center. The Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants explains how to prevent or respond to this crime.
Adults aren’t the only victims
Each year, scammers use confidential financial information stolen from roughly 12 million people to commit crimes. They may, for example, use your Social Security number to apply for a credit card or charge purchases to you after stealing your credit card number. Unfortunately, children can also be victims. What’s worse, they may not find out it has happened until years later, when the bad credit history that the scammers established in the child’s name prevents that child from getting a student loan, apartment lease, or credit card.
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