Adults have been told for years to watch out for identity theft, but children can often be an even easier target.
With the summer months arriving, Brock Bergey with the state division of Consumer Protection at DATCP says many kids will likely be spending more time online, where they could easily fall victim to someone trying to steal their personal information.
Bergey says many kids don’t have that education that tells them a request for information is not right. The problem is made even worse by the fact that it could be years before an unauthorized line of credit is discovered, making the damage even harder to repair.
Bergey says many of the same lessons for avoiding sexual predators online apply to protecting your child’s identity. Information such as your name or address should only be given out to trusted sources and kids should never share their social security number with anyone online.
Many adult consumers have started getting annual credit reports, and Bergey says it may be a good idea to start requesting one for your children as well.