Child identity theft is a disturbingly prevalent crime in our nation, affecting millions of children annually. It’s yet another concern you have to deal with as a parent, and it’s natural to be frightened of such a serious crime.

Luckily, most cases of identity theft are preventable if you’re proactive about the security of your child’s personal information. To give you some guidance, this article will show you how to protect your child from identity theft using all the resources available to parents. 

The first step toward security is familiarizing yourself with the nature of identity fraud. After learning what you’re up against, you’ll see some effective strategies for minimizing the risk of your child’s data falling into the wrong hands.

What Is Child Identity Fraud?

When talking about identity theft, people often assume impersonation by default. While this type of fraud targets adults, children are at risk of a more elaborate crime—synthetic identity fraud.

Synthetic identity fraud typically combines a child’s personally identifiable information (PII) with fake information to create a new, fake identity. The perpetrator uses the new identity for various purposes, from obtaining loans fraudulently in the child’s name to stealing tax refunds or government benefits.

The most valuable piece of information scammers seek is the child’s Social Security number (SSN). Still, other identifiers like the name or home address can be used. Sensitive information is typically purchased on the Dark Web, where SSNs sell for as little as a dollar.

The reason children’s identities are so appealing to financial criminals is that they’re often unused. They see it as a blank slate that’s easy to manipulate and alter for fraudulent purposes. Besides, SSNs of children born after 2011 are randomized, so it’s harder to connect them to their rightful owners.

Identity theft can have grave consequences, most notably:

• A severely damaged credit score that makes it hard to obtain loans
• Denied student aid and government benefits
• Failure to obtain employment in certain industries as a result of a tarnished credit profile

The best way to prevent such serious complications is to safeguard your child’s SSN and other PII. This involves a methodical, multi-step approach.

How To Prevent Child Identity Theft

To minimize the risk of someone getting ahold of your child’s personal information and using it to create a fake identity, here’s what you should do:

1. Talk to your child about the importance of keeping their PII safe
2. Don’t reveal their SSN until you’re certain the need for it is legitimate
3. Keep sensitive documents out of reach
4. Beware of phishing and similar online theft techniques
5. Ensure your child doesn’t overshare on social media
6. Consider a credit freeze
7. Sign up for a credit monitoring service

Teach Your Child To Safeguard Their PII

The sooner your child learns to be vigilant about identity theft, the better their chances of staying safe. Make sure they understand that strangers don’t need any of their information, including the following:

• Home address
• School name
• Email or social media handles
• Any PII (birth date, SSN, etc.)

Let your child know they should always come and talk to you if anyone requests this information. You can help them set a clear line between the data they can share without risk and the information they should never reveal to anyone.

Don’t Share Your Child’s SSN Haphazardly

Very few institutions have a legitimate need for a child’s SSN, most notably:

• The IRS
• Healthcare providers
• Financial institutions

You might assume that other institutions—like your child’s school—can also ask for the SSN, but this isn’t true. Federal law prohibits public schools from requiring it. It’s crucial to remember this because fraudsters might impersonate educational institutions to steal the child’s SSN through different forms and similar tactics.

When in doubt, always ask for additional information to confirm someone truly needs the SSN. Ask if another identifier can be used, and provide your own information instead of the child’s whenever possible.

Protect Documents Containing Your Child’s PII

You should always know who has access to your child’s personal documents and all copies of them. Ideally, you’ll keep them hidden from everyone besides immediate family. Store the documents in a safe spot, and consider investing in a safe. 

Make sure to restrict access to the following documents:

• Passport
• Birth certificate
• Social Security card
• Health insurance card

Look Out for Signs of Phishing and Similar Scams

Many phishing strategies are used to steal SSNs and other identifiers. Scammers might impersonate the Social Security Administration (SSA) and other government institutions to manipulate victims into revealing their information.

To avoid such attempts, you should know how to recognize a phishing email and teach your child to do the same. Some common signs of phishing include:

• Generic/strange greetings (e.g., “Dear Sir/Madam”)
• Emails sent from unusual addresses (you can usually click or tap on the sender’s name to reveal the address)
• False sense of urgency (warnings that certain services will be denied unless you take the requested action)

Stay cautious and don’t follow any links or download attachments until you confirm the sender’s identity. They often include malware or lead to spoof pages designed to steal your information. If you’re uncertain about the email’s legitimacy, contact the institution you received it from for confirmation.

Educate Your Child on Responsible Social Media Use

Everything your child posts on social media no longer belongs to them—it’s available for everyone to see and potentially abuse. There have been numerous cases of children’s information and photos being misused, so you and your child should be mindful of the details you post.

Teach your child not to reveal any sensitive data online. They should also be familiar with numerous scams targeting children, such as the following:

Scam Type	How It Works
Fake contests	The scammer pretends to be an influencer running a contest with the goal of stealing information like bank account details, SSNs, etc.
Catfishing	The fraudster builds an online relationship with the victim by pretending to be interested in a friendship or romantic engagement, asking for the child’s private information at some point
Spoof quizzes	The scammer designs a quiz aimed at harvesting private data (birthday, street address, pets’ names, etc.) and uses the responses to answer security questions and break into accounts

It’s best to teach your child about these dangers while they’re still young. Monitor their social media use and make sure they can recognize scam red flags. 

Freeze Your Child’s Credit Profile

If you’ve ever taken out a loan, you know the importance of a credit profile. Every lender looks at it to determine your creditworthiness and approve the loan. Your child most likely doesn’t have a credit profile, which is precisely why scammers might target them—they use the child’s information to start a clean credit profile and obtain fraudulent loans.

The only way a minor can have a credit profile is if you’ve added them as an authorized user of your credit card or already placed a security freeze on their credit profile. If this isn’t the case, and your child still has one, there’s a high chance they’ve already fallen victim to identity theft.

To prevent this, some parents decide to freeze their children’s profiles. If your child doesn’t have a credit profile, the credit bureau creates one and freezes it immediately. This makes the credit profile inaccessible to new lenders, preventing the opening of new credit accounts.

While this solution is somewhat effective, it’s too narrow to ensure comprehensive protection. As mentioned, fraudsters can use children’s sensitive information for many purposes beyond obtaining credit, so a freeze doesn’t fully protect your child’s identity. 

Besides, placing a child credit freeze is a complicated process that involves lots of paperwork. You need to do it separately with all three credit bureaus:

• Experian
• Equifax
• TransUnion

All the effort may not be worth it, as you still wouldn’t get sufficient protection and would need to unfreeze the credit profile anyway once your child is ready to make legitimate loan inquiries.

Use Credit Profile Monitoring Services

Monitoring your child’s credit profile can help prevent identity fraud, but it’s often too challenging for a parent. The best you can do is request your child’s report from the credit bureau occasionally, which leaves lots of room for fraudulent activity that might go unnoticed.

That’s why many parents decide to sign up for ongoing credit profile monitoring. Besides keeping track of the credit profile itself, such services oversee the use of the child’s personal information to proactively detect any red flags.

The main downside of these services is the cost. Many options come with monthly fees, which a typical parent is already buried in. To fix this, Austin Capital Bank created a budget-friendly solution that monitors and builds children’s credit profiles—FreeKick.

FreeKick—A Two-In-One Identity Protection and Credit Building Platform

FreeKick by Austin Capital Bank is an FDIC-insured deposit account that helps you protect your family’s identities while building credit for your children. Child identity theft occurs every 30 seconds, which is why investing in identity protection services like FreeKick is more important than ever.

Use FreeKick for Identity Protection

FreeKick’s identity protection service is for the entire family. For adult children and parents, FreeKick offers:

• Credit profile monitoring
• SSN monitoring
• Dark web monitoring for personal information
• Up to $1 million identity theft insurance
• Full-service white-glove concierge credit restoration
• Lost wallet protection
• Court records monitoring
• Change of address monitoring
• Non-credit (Payday) loan monitoring
• Free FICO® Score monthly
• FICO® Score factors
• Experian credit report monthly

For minors, FreeKick offers:

• Credit profile monitoring
• Social Security number (SSN) monitoring
• Dark web monitoring for children’s personal information
• Up to $1 million identity theft insurance
• Full-service white-glove concierge credit restoration
• Sex offender monitoring—based on sponsor parent’s address

Use FreeKick for Building Credit

FreeKick also offers a credit building service for children aged 13 to 25. All you have to do is take three steps:

1. Create an Account—Navigate to FreeKick.bank, create an account, and choose a deposit that suits your budget
2. Set It and Forget It—FreeKick will start building 12 months’ worth of credit history for your children
3. Keep Growing—After 12 months, you can close the account without any fees or continue building credit for your family for another year

As a result of this minor effort, your children will have up to five years of credit activity when they turn 18. In turn, this head start will help them save $200,000 during their lifetimes by letting them secure loans on more favorable terms.

FreeKick Pricing

FreeKick has two pricing plans:

FDIC-Insured Deposit	Annual Fee
$3,000	$0 (Free)
No deposit	$149

Each plan offers:

1. Credit building for six children aged 13 to 25
2. Identity protection for two parents and six children aged 0 to 25

Save your family from identity theft and give them a bright financial future—sign up for FreeKick today.

What To Do if Your Child’s Identity Is Stolen

Watching out for identity fraud can be exhausting if you have to do it yourself. Worse yet, there’s still a chance of your child falling victim to it despite your best efforts. Some signs that your child’s PII may have been misused include the following:

• Correspondence from the IRS regarding tax issues connected to their information
• Pre-approved credit card offers in the child’s name
• Denied government benefits or student aid as a result of someone having already obtained them

If you notice such red flags and realize your child’s identity has been jeopardized, take the following steps:

1. Notify the relevant authorities
2. Place a fraud alert on the child’s credit profile
3. Contact the affected lenders

Reach Out to the Authorities Immediately

The first thing you should do in case of identity theft is to contact the authorities that can help you. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lets you submit an ID theft report and get an action plan to mitigate the damage.

You should also contact law enforcement and obtain a police report, as you might need it to dispute fraudulent activity.

Contact the Credit Bureau and Request a Fraud Alert

A fraud alert serves as a red flag notifying potential creditors that the child has been a victim of identity theft. You can place it by contacting any of the three credit bureaus, and they’ll notify the other two.

The alert is free and lasts for a year, but you can get an extended one for up to seven years. You can manage the alert on your child’s behalf and update/remove it by reaching out to credit bureaus via mail or phone.

Dispute Fraudulent Activity With the Affected Lenders

Your child’s credit profile will show any accounts opened in their name, so you can contact the lenders to let them know about the theft and close the accounts. Every lender has a dedicated fraud department that deals with such matters, so they can guide you through the process.

You may need to provide lots of information and documents, which can be time-consuming and stressful. Plus, your child’s credit profile would be significantly impacted despite the closure of the accounts, so you’d need to repair it once it’s done.

FreeKick’s credit profile monitoring can help you avoid all these complications. As mentioned, a dedicated ID restoration specialist would do all the work on your child’s behalf in case of theft, so the issue can be resolved timely and effectively. To ensure your child’s credit profile is overseen by experts while improving their creditworthiness, create your FreeKick account.