Protecting your children from identity theft
Under-18 identity theft on the rise

Infants responsible for $600,000 mortgages. Teens unknowingly carrying six credit cards in five states. College students unable to get loans because their credit histories were destroyed before they were born. This is what happens when a child's identity has been stolen. Most parents don't consider that someone -- most likely someone they know -- could be opening credit accounts in their child's name. Sometimes the criminals are the parents themselves. And these crimes usually go undiscovered until the child applies for a college loan or a job when they're 18, but by then the damage is done -- their identity has been stolen and the bogus credit accounts have been sent to collections. A 2007 study by Javelin Strategy and Research says that more than one million children last year had their information exposed in information breaches. And in many of the cases, thieves snagged the child's Social Security number or birth date and used the numbers to create bogus credit accounts. (See Step-by-step guide to checking your child's credit.) It's impossible to detail the specifics of each breach. But consider just this one: Ex-Girl Scout troop leader and Floridian Holly Barnes was charged with 19 counts of filing false claims and 15 counts of identity theft last fall after creating fraudulent medical forms for members of her girl scout troop. She then used the information to file bogus tax returns and collect $87,000 in illegal tax refunds, which were then distributed into five different bank accounts, according to the U.S. Attorney's office and documents filed in the United States District Court, North Florida District. This January she was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The breach occurred when parents filled out the fraudulent medical forms. "It's the climate of our technology age," says Linda Foley, founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center, an agency that helps parents -- and others -- dispute bogus credit charges. Adds Diane Terry, director of fraud prevention with TransUnion: "Child ID theft isn't anything new. It's been going back a while, however, we do see more and more cases of it."