Parents Pilfer Progeny Persona
Posted on June 29th, 2010
Warning to children of all ages: you do not need to have your computer hacked to have your identity stolen. Your parents are doing it from the comfort of their own living rooms.
In an article by Michelle Singletary in www.washingtonpost.com, “Some parents are stealing their kids’ identity and using it open up credit card accounts, take out loans or are putting utilities in their children’s names. I met a young woman whose mother took out thousands of dollars in student loans in her daughter’s name. The mother now can’t pay back the money so the daughter is left with the debt.”
Parents do this because they want to buy things they cannot afford or, for moms and dads who don’t have the funds for basics like utilities or food, they put the account under the name of their children.
In Blake Lewis’s article on www.cnnmoney.com, “For parents who’ve wrecked their own credit rating, cashing in on Junior’s clean financial history is increasingly tempting. Children make easy targets for identity thieves because they don’t use their own credit and likely wouldn’t notice any discrepancies until they reach adulthood.”
If and when the parent cannot pay the utility or credit card bill, they default, leaving their offspring’s credit rate tumbling.
“’If parents have a child’s social security number, they can do almost anything — no matter how young the child is — because a credit check does not verify a person’s age,’” said Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com.
When the young child comes of age and tries to rent an apartment or purchase a car, he or she is shocked to learn of a bad credit score. This double whammy of being saddled with both a low credit score and a larcenous parent builds to the point where some children teeter on the brink of turning in the parents.
More than half of identity theft is actually perpetrated by family members due to the easy access of personal information, according to Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com.
The continuing tenuous economy also sees many parents turning to their grown children for legitimate financial assistance. The auto industry has seen an increase of almost 30% over the last two years where adult children become the co-signers of a parent’s auto lease. One possible benefit of this; according to John Sternal, vice president of marketing and communications at www.LeaseTrader.com, co-signing a parents’ loan can actually help establish the son or daughter’s credit. In today’s economy, it is of the utmost importance to establish and maintain the highest possible credit score and the most blemish-free credit report.
If you find yourself struggling with debt, call Legal Helpers toll-free 800-260-1402 today for your initial free consultation or come into one of their 100 sites across the country. For experienced and knowledgeable Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy assistance, trust the attorneys from Legal Helpers, www.legalhelpers.com.
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