Nearly 1 out of 10 ID victims are children

According to the Federal Trade Commission, 8 percent of identity theft complaints involved children and many times the culprits weren't found until years later, Star-Telegram reports. Experts suggest that child identity theft is difficult to monitor because the criminals responsible for theft are often the relatives or parents of the child. In a study by a leading theft protection agency, approximately 142,000 U.S. children were found to be victims of identity fraud annually. Susan Grant, director of consumer protection for the Consumer Federation of America told the news source that child identity theft is an easily preventable issue and not something to be overly concerned about for parents. One of the reasons it's difficult to track the occurrence of child identity theft is because the criminal uses a different name than that printed on the Social Security card. By restricting the distribution of a child's personal information and social security number from companies, websites and family member, they can decrease the likelihood of theft. If an organization does request personal information of a child, a parent should both crosscheck the reputability of the company and inquire why the information was asked for.