Stop ID thieves from stealing your kid's credit

TODAY's story follows a piece on msnbc.com’s Red Tape Chronicles last month that unearthed research showing child ID theft is more common than previously believed. Hard data is difficult to find, because most cases of child ID theft aren't discovered for years, but a recent check of 40,000 children by identity monitoring company Debix found more than 4,000 cases of tainted identities.
The issue for parents is this: What can I do to protect my child?

While the problem is clear, the solution is less so. The vast majority of kids don't have a credit report, and they shouldn't. In general, the Federal Trade Commission, the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center and the nation's credit bureaus advise against frequently checking your kids' credit unless there's some reason to believe they've been victimized by identity theft. Repeated requests for a child's report can actually do more harm than good. The Identity Theft Resource Center warns that it can lead to the premature creation of a credit file, which could make it easier for an ID thief to exploit the child’s identity.


http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42997608/ns/today-parenting/