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Child and teen id theft is more popular than you might think. Tami Nealy, of the identity theft protection company Lifelock, says kids and teens make attractive targets to thieves. Id thieves are generally smart and they know that the odds are in their favor that they won’t be discovered for a long, long time.

What can an id thief do with your child’s identity? Really now, who’s going to give credit to a person under 18?

Identity thieves are much better at getting credit than we are. They know all the little tricks to applying but mostly they know that credit bureaus are somewhat notorious for being a bit sloppy in the way they match names with credit histories. We’re an impatient society today and want instantaneous credit. To accomodate us, credit bureaus and credit card companies work on the premise that ‘close’ is good enough.

So at the age of 8, your child could have a mortgage, a car loan, several electricity accounts, numerous cell phones and owe plenty of taxes on unreported income to the IRS! Wow, talk about being precocious. Now you and I know that your child isn’t really the one who is responsible for all this buying and spending. And the average person you talk to about it will also be outraged. But the burden of proof is squarely on you to undo the mess. It can take years and possibly an attorney to unravel all the deceit and clear your child’s name and credit history.

Just exactly how many places have you given your child’s DOB and social security number? Doctor’s offices routinely ask for the SSN. Now why in the world do they need that? They’re not hiring your child for a job? Just leave that blank and if they press you for it, ask them why they need it. You don’t have to give it to them.

Some identity theft protection companies offer plans to protect your children. Compare LifeLock vs TrustedID to see how they stack up against each other. Both of these companies have reduced rates for either child or family protection.