U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Child Identity Theft

NCJ Number
235358
Author(s)
Richard Power
Date Published
2011
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study examined the issue of child identity theft through the use of unused Social Security numbers.
Abstract
Key findings from this study include: 10.2 percent of the children in this study had someone else using their Social Security number; stolen child identities were used to purchase homes and cars, open credit card accounts, secure employment, and obtain driver's licenses; the youngest victim was 5-months old, and 303 of the victims were under the age of 5; and the largest fraud ($750,000) was committed against a 16-year old girl. This study examined the problem of identity theft among children through the use of unused Social Security numbers. Data for the study were obtained through scans of identity records for 42,232 children under the age of 18. The identity records for these children were placed in the Debix AllClear ID Protection Network database after their families received notification that their child's personal information may have been compromised during a data breach. The report includes details on several cases of child identity theft. Recommendations and suggestions for protecting a child's identity are included in the report.