🧒 Child identity theft: check and freeze a child’s credit

🎯 In 30 seconds: A child’s Social Security number is valuable to thieves because nobody checks it for years. Most children have no credit file, so a file existing is itself a warning. Parents can ask each bureau to search for one and can freeze a child’s file for free. It takes some paperwork, once, and protects the child until they choose to lift it.

Why thieves target children

A child’s SSN has a clean history and usually goes unchecked until the first student loan, apartment or job. A thief can pair it with a made-up name and birth date to build a “synthetic” identity, open accounts, and run up debt for a decade before anyone notices. The thief can also be someone close to the family who has the child’s documents.

Signs a child’s identity is being used

• Collection calls or letters addressed to your child.
• Pre-approved credit card offers in your child’s name.
• An IRS letter saying your child owes tax on income, or that someone else already claimed them.
• Government benefits denied because the SSN is already in use.
• A teen is turned down for a student loan, phone plan or bank account because of a credit history they never built.

Step 1: Ask whether a file exists

The FTC says a child under 18 generally won’t have a credit report. To check, contact each of Equifax, Experian and TransUnion and ask for a manual search under your child’s SSN. Each bureau handles this separately. Expect to send copies of:

“No file found” is the result you want.

Step 2: Freeze it

• Under 16: a parent or guardian can request a free freeze at each bureau. If no file exists, the bureau creates one only to freeze it, so lenders find a locked door.
• Age 16 or 17: the teen can request or remove their own freeze.
• Each bureau is separate. Three requests per child.
• No online accounts for minors. Equifax, for example, requires you to be 18 for a myEquifax account and uses a Minor Freeze Request form with proof of identity and authority. Experian and TransUnion have their own minor-freeze instructions, often by mail. Check each bureau’s current page before sending documents.

The freeze stays until someone asks for it to be removed. The same bureaus also accept freezes for incapacitated adults from a guardian or agent with proof of authority.

A worked example: the Okafor family

The Okafors have three children: 3, 9 and 14.

They keep a folder with each confirmation letter and PIN, labelled by child and bureau, so lifting later is easy.

Lifting it later

Plan to lift a bureau’s freeze, or thaw it briefly, before your teen or young adult applies for a student credit card, private student loan, car loan or apartment. Once they are adults they can manage freezes online like anyone else; see Credit freezes and the lesser-known agencies.

Other doors to close

• IRS IP PIN for dependents. Parents can get one for a child, which stops anyone filing with the child’s SSN. Dependents under 18 can’t use the online route; the IRS points to Form 15227 or an in-person appointment. Details in Tax identity theft and the IP PIN.
• Guard the SSN. Ask schools, camps and teams why they need it; often they don’t.
• Store documents securely and shred old forms with the number on them.
• Teach teens that nobody legitimate asks for a login code, and that social media quizzes harvest answers to security questions.

If your child’s identity was stolen

1. Call each company where an account was opened and ask its fraud department to close it and confirm in writing that your child is not responsible.
2. Ask each bureau to remove the fraudulent accounts, then freeze the file.
3. Report at IdentityTheft.gov for a recovery plan and an FTC Identity Theft Report.
4. If you know who did it, consider a police report; the bureaus and companies may ask for one.

Sources

• FTC: How to protect your child from identity theft
• FTC: Credit freezes and fraud alerts
• Equifax: Credit freeze, including minors
• IRS: Get an Identity Protection PIN