Ten percent?!?! I read the headline thinking, okay yeah some people are really terrible parents of course. But ten whole percent?! In a class of 30 kids there are three with bad relatives?! Ten...
In their analysis of more than 40,000 American children, researchers at the university found that 10% had someone else using their Social Security number. That meant kids were 51 times more likely to fall victim to identity theft than adults.
Ten percent?!?! I read the headline thinking, okay yeah some people are really terrible parents of course. But ten whole percent?! In a class of 30 kids there are three with bad relatives?! Ten percent is the prevalence of left handedness!
“As someone who’d been living with identity theft for 20 years and not knowing who was responsible, it was like, wow, we figured out who did it finally,
Her mom kept silent for 20 years, watching her kid suffer. This is why it turns my stomach when people ask for help about a bad parent, and people automatically give them "oh well no parents are perfect we should just love them anyway".
Realistically, I don’t think children know that many people that are adult and have enough knowledge, both about the world and the child in question, to pull an e.g. identity scam like this off.
Meanwhile, a 2021 study by Javelin Strategy found that one in 50 U.S. children fall victim to identity theft every year—with 73% of victims being targeted by someone they know personally.
Hari Ravichandran, CEO and founder of digital security firm Aura, told Fortune that the perpetrator in a child identity theft case is “very often” related to the victim.
Realistically, I don’t think children know that many people that are adult and have enough knowledge, both about the world and the child in question, to pull an e.g. identity scam like this off.
A huge amount of identity theft comes from people using data brokers with no direct connection to the victim. I recall dealing with one case where someone was clearly running through a database of...
Realistically, I don’t think children know that many people that are adult and have enough knowledge, both about the world and the child in question, to pull an e.g. identity scam like this off.
A huge amount of identity theft comes from people using data brokers with no direct connection to the victim. I recall dealing with one case where someone was clearly running through a database of stolen Scotiabank accounts, where they had not just their SIN and credit history information, but also live online banking login credentials. There were a few attempts in there for children.
I mean, I don't think most adults know that many people who are adults and have enough knowledge to perform an identity scam. A lot of identity theft is just dragnet stuff, general breaches of...
I mean, I don't think most adults know that many people who are adults and have enough knowledge to perform an identity scam. A lot of identity theft is just dragnet stuff, general breaches of data which are sold to identity scammers who try to piece together enough information to submit something.
From the article (archive): Apparently this story is a rerun: Note that the statistics cited are about the victim being "related" rather than a parent. There are no statistics for that, but the...
A landmark 2011 study by Carnegie Mellon CyLab found that children are uniquely vulnerable to identity theft.
In their analysis of more than 40,000 American children, researchers at the university found that 10% had someone else using their Social Security number. That meant kids were 51 times more likely to fall victim to identity theft than adults.
Children’s identities were being used to buy homes and cars, open credit card accounts and secure employment, the report’s authors said, with the youngest victim they discovered in their analysis being just five months old.
Meanwhile, a 2021 study by Javelin Strategy found that one in 50 U.S. children fall victim to identity theft every year—with 73% of victims being targeted by someone they know personally.
Hari Ravichandran, CEO and founder of digital security firm Aura, told Fortune that the perpetrator in a child identity theft case is “very often” related to the victim.
“A lot of the time, it involves families that are in dire straits, where they’re facing something like a serious economic crunch or addiction issues,” he said. “When kids are born, they get a social security number that generally never gets used until they’re about 17 or 18—so there’s this large window of time where there’s a clean social security number available.”
Apparently this story is a rerun:
A version of this story was originally published on Fortune.com November 20, 2023.
Note that the statistics cited are about the victim being "related" rather than a parent. There are no statistics for that, but the article has a few stories.
"Why can't I order a replacement card/make changes to/discuss my son/daughter's bank account? I should be named on it. Even though it's in their name, I opened it for them." This is why.
"Why can't I order a replacement card/make changes to/discuss my son/daughter's bank account? I should be named on it. Even though it's in their name, I opened it for them."
Ten percent?!?! I read the headline thinking, okay yeah some people are really terrible parents of course. But ten whole percent?! In a class of 30 kids there are three with bad relatives?! Ten percent is the prevalence of left handedness!
Her mom kept silent for 20 years, watching her kid suffer. This is why it turns my stomach when people ask for help about a bad parent, and people automatically give them "oh well no parents are perfect we should just love them anyway".
That statistic just means they had identity theft, not that it was necessarily a relative who was the culprit.
Realistically, I don’t think children know that many people that are adult and have enough knowledge, both about the world and the child in question, to pull an e.g. identity scam like this off.
A huge amount of identity theft comes from people using data brokers with no direct connection to the victim. I recall dealing with one case where someone was clearly running through a database of stolen Scotiabank accounts, where they had not just their SIN and credit history information, but also live online banking login credentials. There were a few attempts in there for children.
Huh, I truly didn’t have that on my list of concerns. On the bright side, one never stops learning about new things, I guess!
I mean, I don't think most adults know that many people who are adults and have enough knowledge to perform an identity scam. A lot of identity theft is just dragnet stuff, general breaches of data which are sold to identity scammers who try to piece together enough information to submit something.
From the article (archive):
Apparently this story is a rerun:
Note that the statistics cited are about the victim being "related" rather than a parent. There are no statistics for that, but the article has a few stories.
"Why can't I order a replacement card/make changes to/discuss my son/daughter's bank account? I should be named on it. Even though it's in their name, I opened it for them."
This is why.