Question #79: When might counseling be a good idea?
Child identity theft is rising at an alarming rate. Your child is but one victim among many, but it is easy to feel like you are going through the process alone. Children can feel angry and powerless. Parents can be paralyzed with guilt for not being able to protect their children. Emotions may rage, but at what point will you make the call on whether or not you should seek counseling?
Counseling needs can manifest themselves in many ways. Begin by looking for obvious signs of trouble: behavior changes, such as fear of interaction with people or fear of going to places the child used to love. Look for personality changes, such as periods of depression, anxiety, fear, and crying spells. Note any personal care changes, such as a lack of showering or problems at school. Children can also manifest out-of-control behaviors, such as drug or alcohol use or violence.
While we may feel that children are young and resilient, the truth is that they are subject to developing adult-like challenges, both physically and mentally, and need nurturing. Look for poor self-esteem development, destructive thoughts, and signs that they are dealing with a crisis negatively. Develop a dialogue with your child and let him or her know that you are willing to help them emotionally, as well as guide them down a path to help clear fraudulent activity to the best of your ability.
You might think that most parents avoid counseling because of a lack of funds, lack of insurance, or high costs. The truth is that most parents avoid counseling not because of costs, but because they feel like they know their children best, and they can handle any emotional needs their children might have. While few people know a child like a parent, a parent might not be the one to deal with the issues that develop from child identity theft if the person committing the crime is a parent or a relative.
Healing requires a strong time commitment. Depending upon the child, it may also require special skills in surfacing pain that a child could be suppressing. Bringing something to the surface to be dealt with and discussed is critical, because hurt does not always manifest itself in clearly visible ways. In most cases, it will take a professional counselor to build a relationship with the child before emotional healing can begin. Once the challenges and pain surface, a counselor can begin to help the child deal with the emotional trauma, and create a path toward healing.
Your support in the process will be important for their success. If your child hears you verbally supporting their counseling efforts, he or she will be more likely to be receptive to the counseling methods. On the other hand, if a child identity theft victim hears parents speaking negatively about counseling or voicing their lack of support toward counseling, the child will most likely resist counseling as well.
If you couple counseling efforts with life changes aimed at preventing a reoccurrence of child identity theft, your child will understand your commitment. If you display a positive attitude and show determination toward resolving the damage done, then your child will see, through your efforts, your commitment to help him or her. Your child will also see the high priority you place on them in your life, which will help in rebuilding trust for the future.
Part of being a role model in life is doing the right thing. Doing the right thing, as you well know, may not always be easy. Counseling decisions are hard decisions, but necessary. Parents who decide to allow their children to see counselors after victimization are showing care and concern their child will always remember. So when is counseling a good idea? It is a good, healthy idea anytime your child displays a genuine need for help to manage through life’s challenges.
6
Preventing Child Identity Theft
This section discusses ways the government, parents, and educators can help protect children from identity theft.
Question #80: What are the top ten mistakes parents make that contribute to child identity theft?
Mistake #1 is failing to educate your child and your family on child identity theft. When you fail to educate your family on child identity theft, you are contributing to their victimization. Family members do not automatically recognize the value of a child’s identity; therefore, they do not protect it.
Mistake #2 is releasing too much information. Parents release, or approve the release, of their child’s information too often without questioning what the person, business, or organization will do with the information. One example of this would be online systems, such as Facebook, that ask a new user for his or her name, date of birth, and e-mail information. Are you sure you are comfortable with your child providing a date of birth for this purpose? Is it really necessary?
Mistake #3 is not preventing child identity theft at school. Parents seldom band together to influence school systems to protect children’s information. School protections are usually limited to student identification numbers and computer firewalls that are really designed to protect the school’s computer rather than the student’s identity. Parents need to raise the issue of teacher and administration education on child identity theft and cause grassroots changes throughout the school in all grades.
Mistake #4 is failing to properly dispose of identifying documents. Most parents throw away documents that could be used as identifying information or intelligence on your children and family. Some people tear paper documents. The best way to destroy a document is with a cross-cutting shredder. If you do not have access to a shredder, you can soak documents in water or burn them.
Mistake #5 is failing to take advantage of free services. Parents can receive a free annual benefits and earnings statement from the Social Security Administration. If a thief has used your child’s Social Security number to obtain employment, the earnings will show up on this document. Parents and children can request a free annual credit report. Parents can place a free ninety-day credit alert on their child’s credit report if they feel they need to for additional protection.
Mistake #6 is carrying too much information about your child in your wallet or purse. If it is lost or stolen, what would a stranger find out about your child?
Mistake #7 is establishing a work space that says too much about your children. Parents love their children and want to display their accomplishments; however, knowledge is intelligence to a child identity thief. Your information can be compromised by a coworker, janitorial after-hours employee, or a service provider with access to your office.
Mistake #8 is computer breaches. Parents fail to establish virus protection, firewalls, and strong passwords.
Mistake #9 is failing to monitor social networking and gaming site usage. Children and young adults give out an enormous amount of unsafe information about themselves and their family. For example, the advanced systems in Xbox 360 can be fun, as they will allow the user to play with other players not present in your home. If you or your child wants to register to enjoy this form of entertainment, Xbox wants you to provide your date of birth. To whom is your child providing his or her date of birth? Is this safe? You be the judge.
Mistake #10 is failing to verify medical data when visiting a hospital or doctor. If your child was victimized by an identity thief and that information was used for medical care, then a free credit report is not going to help. Review your insurance statements very carefully, and verify hospital and doctor records periodically to ensure your child is the only one using his or her identity.
Question #81: Is the government doing anything to combat identity theft?
By now you have read a lot of information about how harmful child identity theft is, how widespread the effects are, and the preventive measures you can take to help your child. This brings us to the question of what our government is doing to assist us in combating this new-age crime. Are agencies and systems dedicating resources to fighting the crime of child identity theft?
The short answer is yes. There appears to be a broad or generic-approach effort under way that lacks the lightning-bolt effect of citizen involvement. The federal government has designated a lead agency for gathering statistics
. This agency, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is a good resource for information and reporting.
The FTC website has great resources. This site, located at www.ftc.gov, is for citizens, law enforcement, businesses, military, and media. It is also a reference for state and national statistics on the crime of identity theft. The starting point for most people is viewing the site to file a complaint after victimization. I encourage you to explore the site as a preventive measure and take advantage of the great information that will help protect you and your family.
The FTC’s motto is “Deter, Detect, and Defend,” and they have designed their assistance around these three areas. Deter is all about prevention at FTC. Prevention means minimizing your risk and exposure. Risk and exposure are addressed through protecting your Social Security number and understanding the importance of shredding documents. It is also about what you put in the garbage, how to safeguard your valuables, and dealing with the Internet and computers.
Detecting identity theft involves knowing the signs to look for, how to verify that your identity has been stolen, and how to take advantage of the annual free credit report. The defend aspect of the FTC’s effort deals with recovering from the crime after finding out you have become a victim. The FTC provides you with information on fraud alerts and credit freezes. They also provide a guide to reporting the crime to law enforcement, and help you with tips on what to do during the reporting process.
The FTC’s site also assists businesses. Browse the site for information on how a business can help citizens who have been victimized, how to deal with data breaches, and how to safeguard your information. For law enforcement agencies, the FTC site is a reference for laws, publications, and education. Military members can view the site to get information on active duty alerts, tools, and military resources. Finally, the media can view the site for statistical data, press releases, and writing about identity theft.
Another great site for citizens is the U.S. Postal Inspection Service website. This site can be found at https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/, and also has a wealth of tips, great videos, and informative brochures. View the site and select “Investigations.” Once there, click on “Identity Theft,” where you will get access to the latest identity theft information, online news, and facts on how thieves steal your name and your money. This website also provides you with the ability to report postal-related identity theft crimes online.
The Social Security Administration attempts to help combat identity theft with the Death Master File. The purpose of this file is to capture death information to prevent criminals from stealing the information of deceased persons for continued use. Unfortunately, the system relies on a variety of sources to report deaths, and it is only partially successful or accurate.
Question #82: What two preventive measures can I take as a parent to protect my child from identity theft?
The first measure you should take is educating yourself on “opting out.” Your child will be targeted for marketing. If they obtain a bank savings account, subscribe to a magazine, join a club, or subscribe to a service, they become potential marketing targets. Many services provided to families include “fine print” marketing. This marketing type usually comes with small print, buried in exhausting instructions, stating that unless you notify the organization that you do not desire to participate in further promotions, programs, or the sharing of your information, they will automatically enroll you. If you neglect to “opt out,” your child’s identity information may be shared or sold to other businesses or organizations. Opting out for both parents and children is smart and safe.
It is your right as a consumer to prevent the sharing of your information with any third party and any marketing group, mailing list, survey group, e-mail address collector, or collector of information that is shared. How does this help your child? It helps in two ways: first, it cuts down on solicitation phone calls coming into the house and junk mail delivered to your mailbox. Second, you have better control over who markets to your children, and which companies share or sell your child’s identity. Beyond the desire to cut down on mail and phone calls, “opting out” reduces the access thieves have to your family’s personal information, thereby reducing the chance your child’s identity would be compromised. Some organizations resell client information for profit. “Opting out” can help prevent additional holders of your child’s identity from sharing or selling confidential information. Some businesses do not share or sell your information but are hacked by computer thieves who use their knowledge to get inside a computer system and steal personal identity information. Hackers break into business computer systems every day, stealing customer data. This concern alone should warrant a strong consideration to “opt out” with any company that does not need identity information from you or your child stored in their database system.
I recommend that you protect yourself with a full-scale “opt out” of any entity with which you do business. Reducing incoming mail and phone calls allows you to manage and provide oversight on incoming mail and calls that come in. It is much easier to review mail each day if you reduce the “junk” coming into your household. This same concept allows you to take just a moment, with this reduced-mail effort, to see who is sending your child offers, advertisements, and magazines. It also helps you with nuisance phone calls and reduces the amount of time you will have to take reviewing the caller ID.
When you begin your quest to opt out, your first contact should be to the FTC at (888) 5-OPTOUT (888-567-8688). This phone line is managed by the Federal Trade Commission to assist individuals in the opt-out process. Select your desire to opt out and the FTC converts your request into a notice advising potential businesses that they are prohibited under law to market, sell, or use your information. This is the best call you can make, since it affects all four of the credit reporting agencies and is good for five years. It is a telephone system that is easy to navigate and short in duration.
You can also opt out via the Internet. If you have Internet access, just type in www.optoutprescreen.com in your web browser, then hit the “enter” button on your keyboard. Once there, you have three different options. Option one is “opting in”; disregard this unless you want to be included on lists that are used to offer credit and insurance. Option two is opting out electronically for five years. This option excludes you from having to receive offers for five years. Option three is permanently opting out. To complete this option, you must print the form provided on the website and mail it to the address provided.
“Opting in” or “opting out” via the telephone system or the Internet is a one-source task. In other words, you do not have to make a call or visit a site for different credit reporting agencies, opting out of each. Just visit the site I have provided, and one call or one click handles your desires with all credit reporting agencies.
If you are opting out of mail offers to reduce the amount of “junk” mail and your potential exposure to identity theft, I recommend you also register with the Do Not Call Registry. This will cut down on the number of unwanted telemarketer calls seeking information and asking you to purchase goods and services. To begin this process, call (888) 382-1222, or go to their website, which is www.donotcall.gov.
If you visit the Do Not Call Registry website, it will tell you that phone numbers remain permanently once placed and do not need reentering periodically. Just begin by following the instructions under the tab “Registering a Phone Number.” You will enter the data and provide an e-mail address for verification purposes. Once you receive the e-mail and verify it, you will be permanently listed. I recommend this to protect your children from answering the phone and giving out information you would not condone. In addition to children, this is also a good idea for the elderly. Make sure to include all phone numbers that each family member has established in his or her name.
Question #83: If I am a teacher, what can I do to protect my students?
Teachers make a difference in children’s lives every day. They
are viewed as educators, mentors, and guardians. Teachers have the ability to reach children in critical ways. As educators, teachers can help young students learn what child identity theft is and why prevention is important.
As mentors, teachers can set a good example and be proactive in preventing child identity theft, thus showing they care. As guardians, teachers take on the role of protectors. Influence the education system from within, encouraging financial education beyond personal finances. Help school administrators understand the necessity for classroom time on the topic of child identity theft and its harmful effects.
Teachers influence children each and every day. This is why they are a great starting point for education on child identity theft. Before starting, though, let’s take a moment to ensure you are using the prevention tips this book offers for your profession. Listed below are suggested items that you can do, or participate in, that will help your school take a more proactive approach in the protection of your students.
Teacher/School Tips
Have you removed any wall charts announcing student names and dates of birth?
Do you keep all room file cabinets containing student information locked when you are out of the room?
Do you lock your desk at night and anytime you are out of the classroom?
If you maintain a grade book, have you replaced student names with school-issued student ID numbers?
Do you shred all documents when discarding them instead of throwing them in the trash?
If your school maintains student information on computer systems, do you have password policies and download policies and require that the computers request a password when left unattended for any length of time?
Child Identity Theft Page 19