{"id":20997,"date":"2020-08-31T19:03:18","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T19:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qa.security.org\/?post_type=resources&p=20997"},"modified":"2024-10-01T12:23:49","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T20:23:49","slug":"child-identity-theft-parent-awareness-behaviors-and-attitudes","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/www.security.org\/identity-theft\/child\/","title":{"rendered":"Child Identity Theft: Parent Awareness, Behaviors, and Attitudes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Aliza Vigderman<\/a> Last Updated: September 1st, 2020<\/p>\n

Childhood is supposed to be a carefree time where kids can learn and grow in a safe environment, without having to worry about (or even know about) things like identity theft<\/a>. However, children can fall victim to identity theft, especially if a parent isn\u2019t monitoring<\/a> their credit or personally identifiable information (PII) like their Social Security numbers (SSNs).<\/p>\n

But, we couldn\u2019t find much information on the steps parents take to secure their child\u2019s identity. So, our digital security experts decided to get together and create a study of our own. We aimed to gather insights into parental awareness, attitudes, and behaviors related to preventing child identity theft. In these efforts, we learend taht most parents are aware of child identity theft and many follow best practices. With that said, at least a third of parents say they aren\u2019t very concerned or aren\u2019t concerned at all or don\u2019t take commonly suggested preventative measures.<\/p>\n

How Common Is Child Identity Theft and Fraud?<\/h2>\n

In 2017, over one million children were victims of identity theft 1<\/a><\/sup> according to the research firm Javelin Strategy. In our research of more than 600 parents of children under the age of sixteen, 14 percent responded that their child\u2019s identity has been stolen, which would equate to roughly 10 million children.<\/p>\n

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We expect children are targeted more often because they are less likely to discover identity theft before adults who apply for loans, file tax returns, and other actions that require the use of their SSNs. Most people who have their identities stolen as children don\u2019t discover the theft until they are adults, so stealing children\u2019s identities gives the thieves a wider window to use their credentials versus adults.<\/p>\n

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Nearly two-thirds of parents are concerned about child identity theft, with the most frequently cited risks being social media, medical records, and school forms. Interestingly, about a third of parents were either not so concerned or not at all concerned about child identity theft, even though most parents do take measures to prevent their children\u2019s identities from being stolen.<\/p>\n

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Adherence to Best Practices<\/h3>\n

Regardless of the level of concern regarding child identity theft, most parents reported that they shred documents with their children\u2019s PII, store these types of documents and electronic records securely, and only provide their children\u2019s SSNs when necessary. However, 15 percent of parents didn\u2019t take any action to prevent child identity theft, which is striking considering its potential consequences.<\/p>\n

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We looked specifically into how parental concern affects the measures parents took to protect their children from identity theft.<\/p>\n

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Even parents who were not at all concerned about child identity theft take preventative measures to protect their children\u2019s PII; 45 percent shredded documents that contained sensitive information and only provided their child\u2019s SSN when necessary. Parents that fell in this not so concerned group were also more likely than more concerned parents to limit information posted about their children on social media, which was counterintuitive, seemingly. Why aren\u2019t more concerned parents supervising and controlling information about their kids on social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and the increasingly popular Tik Tok?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear from our research why more concerned parents aren\u2019t limiting information posted about their children on social media; overall, less than half of the more concerned parental groups limited this information, which seems low compared to the other precautions they take. Similarly, in a study conducted by the University of Michigan2<\/a><\/sup> regarding parental rules about their children\u2019s use of technology, only 18 percent of parents said that they had rules about oversharing which required their children to get explicit permission before sharing information online.<\/p>\n

In the same vein, only seven percent of parents supervised their children online to ensure that they were following their established rules. However, this study did not connect parental supervision or rules surrounding their children\u2019s Internet usage with child identity theft, so more research needs to be done to demonstrate the connection between the two, or lack thereof.<\/p>\n

In general, however, parents not so concerned or not at all concerned with child identity theft were less likely to shred documents with PII and store documents and electronic records securely than more concerned parents, which was not surprising.<\/p>\n

The Victims of Child Identity Theft<\/h2>\n

Identity theft can happen to any child that has a Social Security number, but some groups are more likely than others to fall victim.<\/p>\n

Cyberbullying and Child Identity Theft<\/h3>\n

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Being online necessarily means using your personal information to create accounts, whether that\u2019s your name, email, bank account information, and more, so it stands to reason that kids who are online more are more susceptible to identity theft and even cyberbullying. However, we were surprised to find out that kids who are the victims of cyberbullying are nine times more likely to be fraud victims than kids who weren\u2019t cyberbullied, according to Javelin Strategy. In our recent research on cyberbullying<\/a>, we found that about a fifth of parents with kids ages 10 to 18 said their children had been cyberbullied before, making this sizable portion of the population more susceptible to identity theft as well.<\/p>\n

Household Income and Child Identity Theft<\/h3>\n

At the beginning of our research, we hypothesized that parents with larger household incomes would be more likely to report child identity theft, as thieves would rather steal from more affluent people versus less affluent. This proved to be the case for the highest household income brackets on our survey, $175,000, and up. On average, 43 percent of parents of these household income brackets reported child identity theft, higher than the average reported child identity theft of 23 percent from households with incomes of $174,999 and below. While household income and reports of child identity theft weren\u2019t perfectly correlated, in general, parents of children from households with higher income brackets were more likely to report child identity fraud than parents of children from households with lower income brackets.<\/p>\n

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Warning Signs<\/h2>\n

Oftentimes with child identity theft, the child in question doesn\u2019t find out that their identity has been stolen until they are adults trying to apply for a loan or something of that nature. By that point, the thief could have used their Social Security number to get PayDay loans, file tax returns, and even get unemployment benefits in their name, which is why it\u2019s best to look for warning signs early.<\/p>\n