Any illegal activity that involves children is something all of society needs to address. One that you may not readily see as a problem is theft of a child’s identity. It happens. And you’ll want be on high alert to protect your child’s personal identity. As a parent today, child identity protection has to be a top priority, too.

Your child’s social security number can be used by identity thieves to apply for government benefits, open bank and credit card accounts, apply for a loan or utility service, or rent a place to live.

Here’s what you need to do. Check for a credit report to see if your child’s information is being misused. If it is, visit IdentityTheft.gov to report and recover from identity theft.

Here are warning signs to watch that can tip you off to the fact that someone is misusing your child’s personal information and committing fraud. For example, you or your child might:

• Get turned down for government benefits because the benefits are being paid to another account using your child’s social security number
• Get a notice from the IRS saying the child didn’t pay income taxes, or that the child’s social security number was used on another tax return
• Get collection calls or bills for products or services you didn’t receive and are calls that point directly to theft of your child’s identity

6 Child Identity Protection Tips:

1. Check Your Child’s Credit Report

If you think your child’s information is at risk, check whether your child has a credit report. Contact each credit reporting company: Experian, Equifax and Transunion, to see if your child’s credit report shows information that is being misused. If it is, ask each company listed on the report to remove all accounts, account inquiries, and collection notices from any file associated with your child’s name and social security number. Contact every business where your child’s information was misused. Ask each business to close the fraudulent account and flag it to show it resulted from identity theft.

2. File A Fraud Report

Ask each company listed on your child’s credit report to put a fraud alert on the report. You can do this by contacting just one of the credit reporting companies; that company will contact the other two. File a report with the FTC online at identitytheft.com.

3. Review Their School Information

School information is an area where you need to be vigilant and establish tight controls on information. Many school forms require personal and, sometimes, sensitive information. Find out how your child’s information is collected, used, stored, and thrown away. Your child’s personal information is protected by law. Inspect and review your child’s education records; approve the disclosure of personal information in your child’s records; and ask to correct errors in the records. Asking schools and other organizations to safeguard your child’s information can help minimize your child’s risk of identity theft.

4. Keep Documents Secure

Find a safe location in your home for all of your important paper and electronic records that show your child’s personal information. Shred all documents with your child’s personal information before throwing them away.

5. Social Security Number Protection

Don’t share your child’s social security number unless you know and trust the other party. Ask why it’s necessary and how it will be protected. Ask if you can use a different identifier, or use only the last four digits of your child’s social security number.

6. Be Proactive With Their Information

Be aware of what puts your information at risk. You lose a wallet, purse or paperwork that has your child’s social security information; there’s a break-in at your home; or a school, doctor’s office or business notifies you that your child’s information was affected by a security breach.

As your child gets close to the age of 16, check for a credit report if you haven’t yet. If there is one — and it has errors due to fraud or misuse — you will have time to correct it before your child applies for a job, a college or car loan, or needs to rent an apartment.

Chelsea State Bank offers ID TheftSmart to help protect your identity. See our Identity Theft Protection page for more information.