The Dangers of Online Shopping and Child Identity Theft
Are you monitoring your child’s internet presence? If not, then you may be putting your child’s identity and future at risk.
According to a research conducted in 2021 by Javelin, 1 in 50 children fall prey to identity theft schemes. Day by day, the dangers of unobstructed online presence get heightened, especially with children under 19. Manipulating them is an easy tactic to gain all their information, which leads kids to be a victim of child identity theft.
What Is Child Identity Theft?
Child identity theft is when your child’s social security number gets adopted by someone else, only for them to open credit cards, buy a house, pay bills, etc. The entirety of this can lead to significant concerns. These tend to arise once your child has all grown up and ventures out into the world of adulthood. For example, when they want to take out a student loan or buy their first car.
Are Children an Easy Target?
Yes. From newborns to teenagers, no one remains safe. The prime reason is that children are like a blank canvas, free of terrible credit scores. As a result, cybercriminals are extremely attracted to this squeaky clean image, causing them to take the route of a predator in disguise.
Online Shopping & Identity Theft
With the way technology has expanded, there is no doubt the number of crimes has increased as well. Cybercriminals have sharpened their skills, leaving behind no traces of identification. In these advanced methods, children play a huge role.
These criminals approach the young minds with a fake persona, pretending to be their friends. Once they acquire the information needed, they drop their façade and go on to open bank accounts. This is done using your child’s name as well as identity, effectively having stolen their personal data.
In other cases, some internet frauds send links through various online platforms where chat systems are enabled. These links contain a glitched-out software that can hack into your child’s devices. Moreover, it can also steal whatever information that may have been fed into the device. From name and age to home address and social security number, your privacy falls at greater risk.
How to Prevent Your Child’s Identity From Leaking
The bottom line is that you never know who the perpetrator is. In most cases, the thief turns out to be one of the family members. After all, who else can get better access than the ones in your surroundings? However, you can take a few preventive steps to secure your child’s identity.
- Freeze your child’s credit reports.
- Monitor any and all online activities.
- Physically safeguard all personal documents.
- Restrict the number of accounts opened under your child’s name.
- Check in with their online friends.
- Install Identity Theft Protection.
- Get the data in your child’s devices properly encrypted
Conclusion
Child Identity Theft is a major issue that occurs daily. Who knows? If you’re not paying enough attention, your child could easily fall prey to such fraudulent activities. Therefore, rather than having the information used and sold on the dark web, it’s better to strengthen your internet security. Be careful of the links you click and the strangers you meet online. Educate your children on such matters to raise awareness. For the best security solutions, visit Western Eagle Security or call them at 281 496 6800.