Did you know a child is 51 times as likely to have their identity stolen than an adult? According to a new study by Javelin, identity theft affects 1.25 million kids — or about 1 out of 50 children — every year. Before baby is out of diapers, they could have a credit card and home loan in their name that you don’t even know about.
While most child identity crimes are committed by people that know the child personally, the frequency of cyber identity theft is growing and you may be putting your child at risk by doing seemingly innocuous things online.
How are scammers stealing my child’s identity?
Of the 1 in 50 US children who were victims of ID fraud last year, 1 in 45 had personal information that was exposed in a data breach. Between digital learning and telehealth, your child’s social security number may be circulating the internet more than ever before.
Experts also point to social media as one of the largest risk factors when it comes to your child’s identity being stolen. As kiddos head back to school, many parents hop on board with the tradition of photographing your kid with a back-to-school chalkboard.
While this trend may be cute, it could also be dangerous. Safety and security Tik Tokker Cathy Pedrayes warns parents that “They’re great for our memories but they often have a ton of information like your kid’s teacher, school, grade, interests or more, which can be used to engineer a scam or worse.” Pedrayes says in the video. “Instead keep…
