Save your Child’s Identity — More than 1 Million Children become a Victim of Identity theft every year!
The use of the internet has been gaining grounds for years now, social media being the most popular platform in the digital world. From youngster to adult everyone has an online presence. Due to the increasing trend of social media, even the kids are not falling behind. They are establishing online footprints earlier and earlier, whether it’s for playing games or watching YouTube videos. The increased inclination of children towards the digital world has substantiated identity thieves to gain access to a child’s information. In addition, the digitization of school and medical record assist cybercriminals in accessing data.
Identity theft isn’t just about adults but Kids are now the major targets
Children’s identities are worth more than adults in the black market, because who would question a five-year-old regarding theft. Parents also don’t pay special heed towards their children because they are not aware of the associated risks. This makes children an easy and alluring target for identity thieves.
According to Javelin’s research, 2017 out of all the reported breaches, 39% of the victims of the fraud were children in comparison to 19% of adults. Primarily, adults are targeted because of their “bank balance” and “insurance statements” but with kids, it’s completely a different story. Minors identities serve a whole new purpose to fraudsters and cybercriminals as children’s identities don’t have any report tied to them.
Child’s SSN — the baseline for synthetic identity fraud
A child’s social security number is of great use for cybercriminals as through SSN identity thieves can apply for government benefits, bank loans, open bank accounts, apply for credit cards and even rent a place or car. It might be confusing how an SSN can be alone used for so many benefits. However, the use of SSN is not this simple. This social security number is a primary key in the creation of “synthetic identities”
Synthetic identity is the combination of real and fictitious information; which results in the creation of fake identities for fraud. That is the major reason why children’s identities are at risk. Due to its nature, it is difficult to detect Synthetic ID fraud for years. The criminals using the SSN of children are always up for long term benefits and no one even realizes that the foul play is at hand since children cannot obtain credit until the age of 18. Just through minor misrepresentation of age, cybercriminals can keep a beneficial advantage for years. Even after the detection, they are really hard to catch because all of the provided information is fake except that of the stolen identity of kids.
