Children are appealing targets for ID theft; parents can guard them

They even go after one of the most vulnerable groups: children."Children are not in any condition to protect themselves," said Adam Levin, chairman and co-founder of Identity Theft 911, which provides identity-theft products and helps victims of the crime. "It's up to their parents.

Children are especially enticing targets for identity-theft crooks because it can take years before the crime is discovered.

"Children, while it doesn't occur often, are probably the most vulnerable just because if someone steals my child's identity, they can use that for 10 to 15 years before they [the child] apply for a loan and they find that their credit is really not good," said Thomas Harkins, chief strategy officer for Secure Identity Systems in Nashville.

Statistics on child identity theft are hard to pin down.

"We don't ask for age in our identity-theft surveys," said Claudia Bourne Farrell, spokeswoman for the Federal Trade Commission. "Our self-reported, anecdotal data indicates that about 5 percent of the complaints last year were for people 18 and under."

The number of child identity thefts reported may be lower than the actual number because "many people find out after they're over the age of 18 that they were victims of identity theft when they were under 18," Mr. Levin said.

"The conventional wisdom is that it's about 500,000 people a year who are children who become victims of identity theft," he said.

The most common way child identity theft occurs is when the child's Social Security number is used to establish new lines of credit.

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Making Cents: Knowing your credit score

If you've ever applied for a mortgage, car loan or most any other type of financing, you're familiar with the importance of having a good credit score. These days, insurers and even potential employers often scrutinize credit scores.

Ranging from 300 to 850, the higher your credit score, the better. But what exactly is a credit score and how is this almighty number determined?

A credit score, which is often referred to as a FICO score, is named for its software creator, the Fair Isaac Corp., and determined from information on credit reports. That payment history data is entered into software that establishes the number lenders use to estimate risk. The higher the score, the less likely a borrower will default on a loan.

There are five determining factors of a credit score. Payment history carries the most weight, followed by the amounts you owe, the length of your credit history, types of credit you use and new credit.

Payment history includes the number of accounts you have paid on time, negative collections and delinquent accounts.

What you owe is broken down as follows: the amount you owe on various accounts; the types of accounts with balances; any revolving credit lines; amounts due on installment loan accounts; and the number of zero balance accounts.

Types of credit may include a mortgage, installment or revolving accounts. A variety of accounts will typically earn you a higher credit score.

A number of factors come under the heading of new credit: The number of accounts you've recently opened, the number of recent credit inquiries and the time elapsed between making an inquiry and opening an account.

Attempting to open too many accounts in a short space of time will bring your credit score down.

The sooner you bring overdue bills up to date, the better. If you foresee a problem maintaining payment schedules, contact your creditor and hammer out a plan. Avoid opening new accounts that you don't need. And don't close unused accounts - that zero balance could help your score.

Be aware of the types of credit you currently use. A mixture of credit cards, installment loans and fixed-payment loans can help increase your credit score - provided you make timely payments.

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The High Cost of a ‘Free Credit Report’

EARLIER this year, Kris Steele, a Web developer in Madison, Wis., who was planning to buy a car, decided to check his credit score.
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Mr. Steele, 27, remembered a number of commercials for FreeCreditReport a young slacker singing about various life problems — living in the in-laws’ basement, dressing as a pirate to wait on tables in a seafood restaurant — all because he had neglected to check his credit score. The ads were lighthearted and catchy, with lyrics like: “F-R-E-E, that spells free creditreport.com, baby. Saw their ads on my TV, thought about going but was too lazy.”

So Mr. Steele headed to the site and filled out the information form, including his credit-card number, which he thought the site needed to verify his identity.

But a couple of months later, Mr. Steele noticed the site had been charging his credit card. While he believed he had signed up for a free report, he had actually enrolled in a credit-monitoring service that cost $14.95 a month. He says he never expected that it would cost anything.

“It’s called FreeCreditReport.com,” he said. “It’s kind of easy to make that assumption. I didn’t see anything in the process of signing up that said, ‘Hey, if you don’t cancel in 30 days or whatever, you’re going to get charged.’ ”

Consumer groups have long objected to sites like FreeCreditReport.com. Consumers may obtain a free credit report each year from the three major agencies, as mandated by an act that Congress passed in 2003. The only authorized site for that is

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