Taking Credit from a Baby

Have you checked your child's credit lately? There's a scary new trend in identity theft - and we'll tell you what to look for...

Identity thieves might be posing as your kid. Babies and young children are easy targets because they're usually not using their social security numbers yet - and probably aren't checking their credit. Jeff Lanza, retired FBI special agent, explains that thieves generate numbers that aren't active - those usually belong to kids. They take those numbers and sell them to crooks that rehab their own credit using that number. The frauds then open lines of credit and charge cards to buy big ticket items that your child might not know about for years.

To find out if your child's number has been used, run a credit check on the social security number. You can do it for free at annualcreditreport.com.