01/09/2022
Did you know that 1st September is National Child Identity Theft Awareness Day?
Child identity theft is the criminal act of using a child’s identity for the purposes of identity fraud.
Child identity theft often goes unnoticed, and unchecked, for years and may not be detected until that child has grown up and is applying for loans or trying to buy a house – situations that would require a credit score check.
Identity theft has the potential to destroy a child’s life before it even starts, and Looked After Children can be especially vulnerable to this when their details are being shared amongst professional organisations, such as local authorities, schools and doctors.
Here are some practices that we as professionals can implement to help protect a child’s personal information.
· Educating children on the importance of protecting their personal details.
· Ensure that digital files including a child’s sensitive data are always password protected(especially when sharing them with another service), and keep physical files locked in a secure place.
· Ensure that you and the children you work with are using a computer, phone or tablet with an up-to-date anti-virus.
· Only sharing a child’s sensitive information when it’s absolutely necessary.
· Checking a child’s credit score, so you’re able to notice any unusual activity - It can be useful to teach children and teenagers how to do this themselves if they have capacity to learn, so they're able check for themselves in the future.
· Shred or destroy any documents that are no longer needed.
If you suspect that a child you’re working with has been a victim of identity theft, click on the link below for further advice from Experian on what to do next.
https://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/identity/what-to-do-if-victim.html
It's important to take action quickly if you've suffered identity fraud. Fraudsters may steal money from your bank accounts & take out credit in your name – so you want to stop them as soon as you can.
