Maryland's Landmark Child Identity Theft Law Goes into Effect Jan. 1
Nation's first such law allows parents to protect children from identity thieves.
OUTSIDE BALTIMORE, MD -- On Jan. 1, 2013, the nation's first law allowing parents to "freeze" their minor children's credit at any time to protect them from identity theft will take effect in the state of Maryland. Currently, according to a recent Washington Post article, credit agencies are obliged to place a freeze of the credit of anyone with a credit history, but not those who do not have a pre-existing credit report, such as a minor. A 2011 report from the Carnegie Mellon University CyLab found that more than 10% of the children surveyed had their Social Security number used by someone else, a figure 51 times higher than adults in the same study. The Huffington Post cited ID Analytics statistics that about 140,000 identity frauds …
Bill Barton
1:04 pm on Tuesday, January 1, 2013
A parent or legal guardian can get a minor's credit report. Contact any of the 3 credit bureaus, and I suggest doing all 3 of them, and as the legal parent/guaradian tell them the situation. Be prepared to give them your ID information as you could be a person who is trying to get information to misuse the child's ID. The credit bureaus have to protect the privacy of their records, hence they … more ›