Credit Freeze for Minors
Children are an easy and attractive target for identity thieves. Their credit records are clean, and it can be many years before they or their families realize their identities have been stolen. Sometimes a person only learns that their identity has been stolen (and their credit ruined) when they apply for their first loan or credit card as a young adult. Last week, I posted about a 2018 study that showed 1 million children were victims of identity theft during 2017. This resulted in $2.6 billion total losses and $540 million out-of-pocket costs for families.
Fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect your kids. The easiest way to prevent this from happening to your children is to freeze their credit with the three major credit agencies.
Thanks to a law passed in 2018, it is now free for a consumer to freeze their credit. While you may even want to do this yourself, it’s especially important to protect your children. To freeze your child’s credit, you’ll need to block out an hour or two to collect the following documents and mail copies to the three major credit bureaus. If you’re like me, you may want to break the job into smaller tasks.
Set aside some time this weekend to locate the documents you need.
Schedule time early next week to make copies.
Return the documents to safekeeping that evening.
Fill out the paperwork with the three credit bureaus midweek.
Mail everything off next Friday.
Here’s what you’ll need to assemble:
Three copies of your government-issued ID (Passport or driver’s license)
One copy of a utility bill, or bank statement, etc. in your name
Three copies of your child’s birth certificate
Three copies of your child’s Social Security card
If you are the child’s legal guardian (not birth parent), you will also need three copies of a court document naming you their legal guardian.
The bureaus all have similar but slightly different requirements, which can be found here:
How do you unfreeze it? Let your teenager handle it! Anyone aged 16 or older can contact the bureaus to have their credit unfrozen. And seriously, it can be a good lesson in financial hygiene. They may choose to leave their credit frozen and utilize the features at the bureaus that allow them to do temporary lifts on the occasions they need to apply for credit.
Meanwhile, if your child is active online, make sure they know the importance of using strong passwords and protecting sensitive information. If you start to receive credit card offers or other solicitations in your child’s name, this could mean your child’s identity has been stolen already. If you or a family member are a victim of identity theft, notify the credit bureaus immediately and consult sites like these from the Federal Trade Commission and the Identity Theft Resource Center.
As always, if you’d like to discuss this topic or other ways to enhance your sense of financial wellbeing, please reach out to continue the conversation.
