Is your child still in diapers -yet already in debt?

A recent New York Times article points out the importance of being diligent when guarding our children's identities from being stolen and used for employment, credit (or even medical services) for years before being detected. It's important to realize that criminals are always looking for new and innovative ways to steal "us". And even though our children (and elderly parents) may not be using their SSN's to obtain credit or employment; someone else might be...

By BARBARA WHITAKER
Published: July 21, 2007

For almost half of his life, Gabriel Jimenez, 25, has been sharing his identity with another person.

His mother, Jeri Marks, first discovered the problem when he was 11, after filing taxes for work he did as a child model. Someone had already filed taxes, she was told by the Internal Revenue Service. Although she notified the police, the I.R.S. and the Social Security Administration, the problem continued, she recalled in an interview.

After a few years, she requested her son's file with the Internal Revenue Service and found an illegal immigrant who was working using the number.

"He said he would give me his refund if I let him continue to use the number," said Ms. Marks, who lives in Chicago, adding that she asked him to stop using it.

But the problem did not stop there and as Gabriel reached adulthood, his problems have only become worse.

See entire article here

Remember -if you are not going to take the time to proactively protect your identity hire someone who will. You can place your own fraud alerts and monitor your own credit reports but you need to do so on a regular basis. There are simply too many ways your data can be compromised.