Editorial: How to guard against child identity theft

By Bill Spaniel

Your child begins to receive offers for pre-approved credit cards. It sounds annoying, but nothing to be worried about, right? In fact, it could be one of the warning signs that your family is the victim of child identity theft.

Nearly 3 percent of U.S. households with children under 18 — or one in 40 households — has been struck by child identity theft, according to the Identity Theft Assistance Center. The California Society of CPAs explains how to prevent or respond to this crime.

Adults aren’t the only victims

Each year, scammers use confidential financial information stolen from roughly 12 million people to commit crimes. They may, for example, use your Social Security number to apply for a credit card or charge purchases to you after stealing your credit card number.

Unfortunately, children can also be victims. What’s worse, they may not know it has happened until years later, when the bad credit history that the scammers have established in the child’s name prevents them from getting a student loan, apartment lease or credit card.

Be aware of the warning signs

In this type of crime, a child’s information may be used to develop an identity for a fictitious adult. As a result, one surefire warning sign would be a notification from the Internal Revenue Service regarding, say, failure to pay taxes when your child has had no income or from a financial institution regarding an account your child doesn’t have or a purchase he or she never made.

Keep an eye on accounts

As with any kind of identity theft, prevention requires close monitoring. Regularly review the statements your child may receive from any savings or other financial accounts they have. Ensure that all checks or withdrawals are accurate and that there aren’t any unauthorized charges.

When your children are old enough, discuss your reviews with them. Explain the importance of keeping tabs on their money so that they are better able to protect their accounts, manage their money and stay on budget as an adult.

Protect their privacy

You can safeguard your entire family’s privacy by properly maintaining the confidentiality of all your paper and electronic financial and other records, and shredding documents with personal information before you discard them. Keep Social Security cards in a safe place, not in your child’s wallet. Warn your children to restrict their online purchases to reliable web sites that feature online security and privacy protection.

In addition, advise them not to divulge information about their financial accounts or Social Security number in response to any email, no matter who sent it or how legitimate it may look. Since an identity thief can even use a birth date to access a birth certificate and create a phony profile, discourage them from revealing this information online.

Respond to thefts

If you believe your child has been the victim of identity theft, contact the three major credit agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — to see if they have a fraudulent credit history on file. If they do, ask the agencies to remove the incorrect accounts and other information and issue a fraud alert on their account.

Follow up with each creditor and let them know that the account in your child’s name is fraudulent. You can also file a fraud report with the Federal Trade Commission and a police report.

Turn to your CPA

Your local CPA can offer a wide range of advice on the best ways to protect your money, whether that means addressing tax concerns, implementing smart saving habits or responding to identity theft. Be sure to contact him or her with all your financial questions.

To listen to podcasts with more financial tips, go to http://tinyurl.com/calcpafinem.

—Bill Spaniel is the public relations manager for the California Society of CPAs / CalCPA Institute.

LETTERS

No to name change

I am opposed to changing the name of Florence Elementary School [See “Effort to rename Florence Elementary takes flight,” Vol. 6, Issue 21].

The proponents of the change have not explained what is wrong with the original name.

The new name would be that of a living politician. What if there is a future scandal involving that politician? Will the name have to be changed again?

What real connection does that politician have to the school? None that I can discern.

And who would want the name of a school they attended long ago to have its name changed without their knowledge?

I live within four blocks of Florence Elementary School. Nobody informed me of the “community meeting” that your newspaper reported on.

The activists and politicians might think they can fast track this deal behind the community’s back. I hope they do not succeed.

And enough of these name changes that honor activists and politicians.

Change the name of the school to that of a parent volunteer or distinguished teacher or alumnus if it must be changed at all.

— Andrew Towne, via email

Changing the name of a school that has had the same name for 100 years would cost a lot of money and not produce anything solid. Yes the petitioner, the GLBT Historic Task Force, would be responsible for raising the $50,000=plus to compensate for things like new school signs, the value of the existing printed materials and forms that would have to be tossed, the cost of redesigning and replacing them, the cost to reimburse the school district for staff time to change all online data and websites with any reference to the existing name, and the cost of holding meetings and hearings to discuss the idea.

Wouldn’t it be better to spend $50,000 building something solid that we could name for Christine [Kehoe], like a new children’s playground? We already have schools, but we don’t have enough playgrounds and parks in Uptown. Think of all the children who would benefit from a new playground. Wouldn’t that be a better way to honor Christine?

—Christine Supporter, via sduptownnews.com

Marrow matrimony

Dianne is my bone marrow recipient [See “Bone marrow recipient officiates donor’s wedding” Vol. 6 Issue 22]. She’s an incredible person with a big heart. We have such a terrific relationship, being around Di you can see why she has such a positive impact on people’s lives.

Great writeup, Hoa – thanks for capturing our story on a very special day for us all!

Best,

–Kevin Zempko, via sduptownnews.com

I have just recently had the pleasure of spending time with Dianne. She is an amazing, creative, funny and kind person. I am lucky to know her and the world is a better place with her in it.

—Cathy, via sduptownnews.com

I know Dianne, and she is incredibly giving and kind, has time for everyone (even if she doesn’t really), and is a loving mom, friend, great cook, and creative to boot. Love her.

—Maryam Doucette, via sduptownnews.com