February 19, 2025 • 16 mins
Protecting Your Child from Identity Theft: My Son's Data was Stolen
In this episode of The Secure Family Podcast, Andy discusses the importance of protecting children from identity theft. He shares personal experiences, including his decision to freeze his son's credit, and offers how his data was stolen a few months later. Plus he shares how parents can prevent child identity theft through some simple steps.
Take control of your data with DeleteMe. Because they sponsor the podcast you can get 20% off a privacy plan from DeleteMe with promo code: DAD.
Level Up your parenting with my ebook about protecting your kids while gaming online.
Learn how to freeze your child's credit to protect their financial future.
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00:00 Introduction to The Secure Family Podcast
00:58 The Dangers of Tax Season Scams
02:03 Protecting Your Kids in Online Gaming
03:27 Understanding Child Identity Theft
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Andy (00:09):
This is The Secure Family Podcast.
Welcome friend, I'm Andy Murphy, thehost and founder of The Secure Dad.
This show is all about empowering parentsto protect themselves and their family.
I believe that security is thefoundation of happiness, and I want
your family to be safe and happy.
The information I share on this podcastis for general information purposes only.
(00:33):
My goal is to empower you to make saferdecisions for yourself and your family.
Because our safety isour own responsibility.
Today, I'm going to share with you astory from my life and a lesson that
I learned that I hope will help youkeep your children safe from fraud.
All of that and more coming upon The Secure Family Podcast.
(00:58):
It's tax season!
Aren't you excited?
Okay, so you and I may not liketax season, but scammers do.
Did you know that scammers canuse your real data to file your
taxes and steal your refund?
People can use the data from breachesand data broker sites to pretend to be
you and actually file your taxes, andthe government won't know the difference.
(01:22):
That's why I personally use DeleteMe.
DeleteMe is a subscription servicethat removes your personal data
from hundreds of data broker sites.
Don't let someone stealyour hard earned tax refund.
One important step you can take isto remove your data from these sites.
Plus, you can file your return earlybefore a scammer can do anything.
(01:43):
Today, get 20 percent off your DeleteMeplan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/Dad
and use the promo code DAD at checkout.
The only way to get 20 percent offis to go to JoinDeleteMe.com/Dad
and enter the code DAD at checkout.
That's JoinDeleteMe.com/Dad, code DAD.
(02:03):
Parents, it's time to levelup your online gaming safety.
My new ebook, Level Up (02:07):
The Parent 30 Minute Guide to Online Gaming Safety,
is now available at TheSecureDad.com.
In just 30 minutes, you'll learn how toprotect your kids from online dangers,
set up smart guidelines, and give them thefreedom to play without all of the worry.
In this new ebook, I'll give you a parentfriendly breakdown of the online gaming
(02:30):
world, you'll get a clearer understandingof why kids love gaming and how it
fits into their social lives, You'lllearn about the biggest threats, like
cyberbullying, inappropriate content,and online grooming, and of course, I
will show you how to deal with them.
I'll provide you with proven methodsto build trust and have meaningful
conversations with your child about gamingsafety, because I've done this all myself.
(02:53):
Plus, I'll share the red flags ofgrooming so that you can protect
your kids online and in real life.
And I will do all of this inthe time it takes you to watch
one of your favorite TV shows.
No fear mongering.
Just real solutions from a dad, a gamer,and of course, a family safety advocate.
Don't wait.
Grab your copy today at TheSecureDad.Com.
(03:15):
There's a link for you intoday's podcast show notes.
You know, as parents, we areunderstandably concerned about the
safety and wellbeing of our children.
We make sure that when our kidsare young, there aren't any
(03:35):
choking hazards in their way.
Then when they're older, we teach themhow to drive safely and we want them
to make good decisions while they'regaming online, becoming digital citizens.
Those are all safety concernsthat are in our daily lives.
We can see those things and affectthem for our kids, an unseen
(03:56):
danger that parents often overlook,including me, is child identity theft.
If you've never thought about thisbefore, I certainly don't blame you.
So in 2023, I learned that it was a goodidea to think about my son's financial
future, not just from the point of view ofhaving a good savings account or anything
(04:17):
like that, but to protect his good name.
So in 2023, I froze my son's creditwith the three major credit bureaus.
I did what I thought at the time wasan extra step to further protect him.
Like my goodness, after all Ifounded The Secured Dad, you know,
this should be something that I do.
I had to gather, like, a whole bunchof information and paperwork and mail
(04:39):
it in to each of the credit bureau.
And, by the way, they don't alluse the same forms, they don't
want all the same identification.
It's a process, but I did it.
And it worked.
What I didn't know was that Iwould actually be very thankful for
doing this less than a year later.
In April of 2024, I got a letter fromour bank saying that my son's personal
(05:04):
information had been compromised, inwhat they called a small data breach.
He has a youth savings account, and thebank had his information, like his name
and address and social security number.
And those things wereexposed in this breach.
At the time, he was 11.
At 11, my son was involved in what Ibelieve to be his first data breach.
(05:29):
And that's the worldthat we live in today.
This is something that wehave to take seriously.
I consider child identity theft tobe an unseen danger, and I say this
because mostly the attack comes fromsomebody online who takes that data,
who isn't anywhere near your childand most likely never knows you.
(05:50):
They don't know what you look like.
They don't really know where you live.
You're just a bunch ofones and zeros in a file.
So as a parent, how are we supposedto know that this is a thing?
So let me make this clear.
If your child has a socialsecurity number, they are
at risk of identity theft.
That means this potential threat startswith all of the paperwork that you fill
(06:14):
out at the hospital that's associatedwith your child's birth certificate.
Most parents don't ever think aboutthis and it could ruin your child's
financial future and you may not evenknow about it for 17 or 18 years.
I don't want you to find out that there'sa problem with your child's credit score
when they go to apply for a car loanor apply for financial aid at college.
(06:38):
But that's when a lot of peopleget hit with some really bad news.
You see, our children are ablank slate in a number of ways.
Because there isn't a lot of legalinformation about a young child
in any record, that means that thebad guys have a lot of leeway in
creating their own fake identitywith your child's real information.
(06:59):
With your child's ID, a thief can opennew lines of credit in your child's
name, they could buy things with acredit card, collect unemployment,
and even open fake bank accounts.
In some cases, thieves have beenable to get medical procedures.
I don't know how thatworks, but it happens.
(07:21):
Also, personally identifiableinformation can be sold on the dark web.
So if the thief takes it,that thief may never use it.
It may take a few monthsor a year to sell that off.
Then it could be sold more thanonce and cause trouble at different
times in your child's life.
Once that information is compromised,It's out there and that's, that's hard.
(07:44):
That's tough.
Now at this point you mightwonder if the credit reporting
companies catch this type of fraud.
Unfortunately, that is notas cut and dry as you think.
And that is an ongoingtheme in all of this.
The way it works is that thesocial security number is validated
separately from the other personallyidentifiable information in the process.
(08:09):
I'm sure there's a good reason for it,but looking at it through this lens,
I don't feel that that's a good thing.
I'm just a dad.
A scammer could use the identity ofa 40 year old man with the social
security number of a 12 year old girl.
This may seem counterintuitive toyou and me, but it is the current
(08:30):
process that we all have to live with.
And I don't think it's going tochange anytime soon, even after the
big National Public Data Breach.
I don't think we'regoing to see any changes.
So let's switch gears now andtalk about what we can do to
protect our children's identities.
If any of these things that I'm about totell you sound intimidating, don't worry.
(08:52):
I have created a free guidethat will go over all of this.
I will share each step that Itook in freezing my son's credit
so that you can do the same.
And there's a link for you in theshow notes to download this guide.
One of the biggest leaks of achild's personal information.
Is us.
It's the parents.
(09:13):
Yeah, we're supposed to be the protectors,but sometimes we make mistakes.
We may inadvertently give awayvery valuable information about our
children in person or even online.
Have you ever seen those cute birthannouncement pictures on social media?
There's gonna be like a small childthat looks like a squishy potato
next to a letter board that saysAva Charlotte Riddle, born August
(09:36):
1st, 2023, Sugar Land, Texas.
In that one picture anunsuspecting proud parent has
given away a lot of personal data.
Their child's legal name, gender, dateof birth, and place of birth have been
shown to everybody on the internet.
That's a lot of informationfor a seasoned scammer to use.
(09:59):
That's really a goldmine.
And to make it worse, thieves can searchfor the parents names and addresses and
phone numbers, and even their relatives.
This gives them a robust amountof legitimate information.
And what is so bad is that at this point,nothing illegal has taken place yet.
(10:20):
An identity thief can simplysee a social media post.
Then they can do a legal searchon a site like whitepages.
com to find out therest of the information.
It's only when they commitfraud that a crime has occurred.
As parents, we must considerwhat we post online and how it
may affect our child's future.
(10:41):
And yes, joining DeleteMe is agreat way to protect your family's
data from searches like this.
Another way your child's identitycan be stolen, is in a data breach.
Some breaches only divulge emailaddresses or passwords or things
like that, but there was an epicdata breach in South Carolina that
compromised 6.4 million residents.
(11:02):
Including children.
Back in 2012, 3.
6 million social security numbers wereexposed along with other information in
a breach that originated from a phishingattack at a state government office.
At the time, and I say this, at thetime, it was the largest cyber attack
against a state agency in the nation.
In response, the state offered residentscredit monitoring for two years.
(11:26):
Kind of as damage control.
The issue is that SocialSecurity numbers don't change.
If criminals are patient enough to havewaited until 2015, they could have had
a ton of information ready to go pastthat free credit monitoring period.
You might be thinking that this allseems impossible to protect your
(11:47):
child's valuable data, but thereare steps that parents can take to
shield their children's information.
The first thing that we have to dois protect our children's personal
information and take that very seriously.
You've listened to thisshow, you are now on notice.
This is very important.
Don't share detailed birthannouncements with valuable information.
(12:10):
Also, keeping your child's socialsecurity number secret is vital, while
government forms may require it, ifyou don't have to share it, then don't.
It's okay for you to ask a daycare, anonline service, or whatever, why the
social security number is necessary.
Then ask if it's okay thatyou don't provide it on the
basis of protecting your child.
(12:31):
Just see what happens.
There's probably a lot of timesthey'll just waive that for you.
One of the best ways to protectyour child from identity theft
is to freeze their credit.
You may think that since they'reyoung that your child does not
have a credit score, so you don'treally need to worry about it.
Freezing your child's creditessentially locks it until
your child is ready to use it.
(12:52):
This will keep identity thieves fromhurting your child's credit history.
So, going back to 2023, my wife andI chose to freeze our son's credit.
And the process was complicated.
I had to pull together a lot of documents.
I had to physically mail it in tothe three big credit companies,
which, by the way, uh, areExperian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
(13:14):
Unfortunately, freezing a minor's creditis not as easy as it is for an adult.
Think back to the National PublicData breach not that long ago.
I was encouraging adults to callnumbers and freeze their credit,
which could be done over the phone.
That is just not the case with children.
You have to prove that you are theguardian to each of the bureaus,
(13:36):
and that will take some legworkon your part to prove that.
Generally, you'll have toidentify who you are, that you
are the guardian of the child.
You'll have to provide your governmentID, their birth certificate,
and a few other documents.
Then there are a few forms that have to befilled out and then physically mailed in.
And of course, the processes aresimilar, but they are not the
(13:59):
same for all three companies.
Plus you'll have to do this processfor each one of your children.
It can get overwhelming,but it is worth it.
I'm not going to go into all thedetails right now because it is an
exhaustive process, but I've createdfor you a free step by step guide on
how to freeze your child's credit.
This is based on what I did tosuccessfully freeze my son's credit.
(14:23):
There are links to the informationthat you'll need and some tips that I
learned along the way, and I'm happyto share those with you for free.
And there's a link inthe show notes for you.
When your child is ready for theircredit to be unfrozen, you'll need
to contact all three companiesagain to initiate the process.
So when you complete the freeze,the company will mail you a
(14:43):
packet of information on howto open the account again.
Keep this information in a safeplace, like a safe deposit box or
a fireproof safe, because you aregoing to need it in the future.
It does seem like a lot ofwork, but consider this.
Would you rather do some work now?
Or do a ton of work later whenyour child's credit is ruined.
(15:06):
It may take years to clear up theresidual effects of identity thieves.
If you discover that your child'sinformation has already been stolen,
you can report it, and then have thosefraudulent accounts closed, and then
you can freeze your child's credit.
The FTC has a processthat they use to help you.
But as you can see, one way or another,freezing your child's credit is going
(15:27):
to be a solution, either for preventionor as an emergency measure when
things have gone really, really wrong.
Parents need to do their part in keepingtheir child's social security number and
their personal data safe and private.
Be proactive and consider freezingyour child's credit now so that they
can have a strong financial future.
(15:51):
Well, this concludes this episodeof The Secure Family Podcast.
Thank you so much, friend,for being a part of the show.
Take back your privacy and personaldata with help from DeleteMe.
Get 20 percent off a privacy planwhen using the code DAD at checkout.
DeleteMe is the official dataremoval service of The Secure Dad.
Keep your kids safe while gamingonline with my new ebook, Level Up.
(16:14):
It's available to you right nowat the link in the show notes.
If you'd like to know more about TheSecure Dad, visit thesecuredad.com.
There you'll find freedownloads, books to buy, podcast
episodes, and a whole lot more.
I'm Andy Murphy, and I want you toconsider freezing your child's credit.
Yes, it is tedious, butit is worth the effort.
(16:37):
Trust me.
This is The Secure Family Podcast.
Welcome friend, I'm Andy Murphy, thehost and founder of The Secure Dad.
This show is all about empowering parentsto protect themselves and their family.
I believe that security is thefoundation of happiness, and I want
your family to be safe and happy.
The information I share on this podcastis for general information purposes only.
(00:33):
My goal is to empower you to make saferdecisions for yourself and your family.
Because our safety isour own responsibility.
Today, I'm going to share with you astory from my life and a lesson that
I learned that I hope will help youkeep your children safe from fraud.
All of that and more coming upon The Secure Family Podcast.
(00:58):
It's tax season!
Aren't you excited?
Okay, so you and I may not liketax season, but scammers do.
Did you know that scammers canuse your real data to file your
taxes and steal your refund?
People can use the data from breachesand data broker sites to pretend to be
you and actually file your taxes, andthe government won't know the difference.
(01:22):
That's why I personally use DeleteMe.
DeleteMe is a subscription servicethat removes your personal data
from hundreds of data broker sites.
Don't let someone stealyour hard earned tax refund.
One important step you can take isto remove your data from these sites.
Plus, you can file your return earlybefore a scammer can do anything.
(01:43):
Today, get 20 percent off your DeleteMeplan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/Dad
and use the promo code DAD at checkout.
The only way to get 20 percent offis to go to JoinDeleteMe.com/Dad
and enter the code DAD at checkout.
That's JoinDeleteMe.com/Dad, code DAD.
(02:03):
Parents, it's time to levelup your online gaming safety.
My new ebook, Level Up (02:07):
The Parent 30 Minute Guide to Online Gaming Safety,
is now available at TheSecureDad.com.
In just 30 minutes, you'll learn how toprotect your kids from online dangers,
set up smart guidelines, and give them thefreedom to play without all of the worry.
In this new ebook, I'll give you a parentfriendly breakdown of the online gaming
(02:30):
world, you'll get a clearer understandingof why kids love gaming and how it
fits into their social lives, You'lllearn about the biggest threats, like
cyberbullying, inappropriate content,and online grooming, and of course, I
will show you how to deal with them.
I'll provide you with proven methodsto build trust and have meaningful
conversations with your child about gamingsafety, because I've done this all myself.
(02:53):
Plus, I'll share the red flags ofgrooming so that you can protect
your kids online and in real life.
And I will do all of this inthe time it takes you to watch
one of your favorite TV shows.
No fear mongering.
Just real solutions from a dad, a gamer,and of course, a family safety advocate.
Don't wait.
Grab your copy today at TheSecureDad.Com.
(03:15):
There's a link for you intoday's podcast show notes.
You know, as parents, we areunderstandably concerned about the
safety and wellbeing of our children.
We make sure that when our kidsare young, there aren't any
(03:35):
choking hazards in their way.
Then when they're older, we teach themhow to drive safely and we want them
to make good decisions while they'regaming online, becoming digital citizens.
Those are all safety concernsthat are in our daily lives.
We can see those things and affectthem for our kids, an unseen
(03:56):
danger that parents often overlook,including me, is child identity theft.
If you've never thought about thisbefore, I certainly don't blame you.
So in 2023, I learned that it was a goodidea to think about my son's financial
future, not just from the point of view ofhaving a good savings account or anything
(04:17):
like that, but to protect his good name.
So in 2023, I froze my son's creditwith the three major credit bureaus.
I did what I thought at the time wasan extra step to further protect him.
Like my goodness, after all Ifounded The Secured Dad, you know,
this should be something that I do.
I had to gather, like, a whole bunchof information and paperwork and mail
(04:39):
it in to each of the credit bureau.
And, by the way, they don't alluse the same forms, they don't
want all the same identification.
It's a process, but I did it.
And it worked.
What I didn't know was that Iwould actually be very thankful for
doing this less than a year later.
In April of 2024, I got a letter fromour bank saying that my son's personal
(05:04):
information had been compromised, inwhat they called a small data breach.
He has a youth savings account, and thebank had his information, like his name
and address and social security number.
And those things wereexposed in this breach.
At the time, he was 11.
At 11, my son was involved in what Ibelieve to be his first data breach.
(05:29):
And that's the worldthat we live in today.
This is something that wehave to take seriously.
I consider child identity theft tobe an unseen danger, and I say this
because mostly the attack comes fromsomebody online who takes that data,
who isn't anywhere near your childand most likely never knows you.
(05:50):
They don't know what you look like.
They don't really know where you live.
You're just a bunch ofones and zeros in a file.
So as a parent, how are we supposedto know that this is a thing?
So let me make this clear.
If your child has a socialsecurity number, they are
at risk of identity theft.
That means this potential threat startswith all of the paperwork that you fill
(06:14):
out at the hospital that's associatedwith your child's birth certificate.
Most parents don't ever think aboutthis and it could ruin your child's
financial future and you may not evenknow about it for 17 or 18 years.
I don't want you to find out that there'sa problem with your child's credit score
when they go to apply for a car loanor apply for financial aid at college.
(06:38):
But that's when a lot of peopleget hit with some really bad news.
You see, our children are ablank slate in a number of ways.
Because there isn't a lot of legalinformation about a young child
in any record, that means that thebad guys have a lot of leeway in
creating their own fake identitywith your child's real information.
(06:59):
With your child's ID, a thief can opennew lines of credit in your child's
name, they could buy things with acredit card, collect unemployment,
and even open fake bank accounts.
In some cases, thieves have beenable to get medical procedures.
I don't know how thatworks, but it happens.
(07:21):
Also, personally identifiableinformation can be sold on the dark web.
So if the thief takes it,that thief may never use it.
It may take a few monthsor a year to sell that off.
Then it could be sold more thanonce and cause trouble at different
times in your child's life.
Once that information is compromised,It's out there and that's, that's hard.
(07:44):
That's tough.
Now at this point you mightwonder if the credit reporting
companies catch this type of fraud.
Unfortunately, that is notas cut and dry as you think.
And that is an ongoingtheme in all of this.
The way it works is that thesocial security number is validated
separately from the other personallyidentifiable information in the process.
(08:09):
I'm sure there's a good reason for it,but looking at it through this lens,
I don't feel that that's a good thing.
I'm just a dad.
A scammer could use the identity ofa 40 year old man with the social
security number of a 12 year old girl.
This may seem counterintuitive toyou and me, but it is the current
(08:30):
process that we all have to live with.
And I don't think it's going tochange anytime soon, even after the
big National Public Data Breach.
I don't think we'regoing to see any changes.
So let's switch gears now andtalk about what we can do to
protect our children's identities.
If any of these things that I'm about totell you sound intimidating, don't worry.
(08:52):
I have created a free guidethat will go over all of this.
I will share each step that Itook in freezing my son's credit
so that you can do the same.
And there's a link for you in theshow notes to download this guide.
One of the biggest leaks of achild's personal information.
Is us.
It's the parents.
(09:13):
Yeah, we're supposed to be the protectors,but sometimes we make mistakes.
We may inadvertently give awayvery valuable information about our
children in person or even online.
Have you ever seen those cute birthannouncement pictures on social media?
There's gonna be like a small childthat looks like a squishy potato
next to a letter board that saysAva Charlotte Riddle, born August
(09:36):
1st, 2023, Sugar Land, Texas.
In that one picture anunsuspecting proud parent has
given away a lot of personal data.
Their child's legal name, gender, dateof birth, and place of birth have been
shown to everybody on the internet.
That's a lot of informationfor a seasoned scammer to use.
(09:59):
That's really a goldmine.
And to make it worse, thieves can searchfor the parents names and addresses and
phone numbers, and even their relatives.
This gives them a robust amountof legitimate information.
And what is so bad is that at this point,nothing illegal has taken place yet.
(10:20):
An identity thief can simplysee a social media post.
Then they can do a legal searchon a site like whitepages.
com to find out therest of the information.
It's only when they commitfraud that a crime has occurred.
As parents, we must considerwhat we post online and how it
may affect our child's future.
(10:41):
And yes, joining DeleteMe is agreat way to protect your family's
data from searches like this.
Another way your child's identitycan be stolen, is in a data breach.
Some breaches only divulge emailaddresses or passwords or things
like that, but there was an epicdata breach in South Carolina that
compromised 6.4 million residents.
(11:02):
Including children.
Back in 2012, 3.
6 million social security numbers wereexposed along with other information in
a breach that originated from a phishingattack at a state government office.
At the time, and I say this, at thetime, it was the largest cyber attack
against a state agency in the nation.
In response, the state offered residentscredit monitoring for two years.
(11:26):
Kind of as damage control.
The issue is that SocialSecurity numbers don't change.
If criminals are patient enough to havewaited until 2015, they could have had
a ton of information ready to go pastthat free credit monitoring period.
You might be thinking that this allseems impossible to protect your
(11:47):
child's valuable data, but thereare steps that parents can take to
shield their children's information.
The first thing that we have to dois protect our children's personal
information and take that very seriously.
You've listened to thisshow, you are now on notice.
This is very important.
Don't share detailed birthannouncements with valuable information.
(12:10):
Also, keeping your child's socialsecurity number secret is vital, while
government forms may require it, ifyou don't have to share it, then don't.
It's okay for you to ask a daycare, anonline service, or whatever, why the
social security number is necessary.
Then ask if it's okay thatyou don't provide it on the
basis of protecting your child.
(12:31):
Just see what happens.
There's probably a lot of timesthey'll just waive that for you.
One of the best ways to protectyour child from identity theft
is to freeze their credit.
You may think that since they'reyoung that your child does not
have a credit score, so you don'treally need to worry about it.
Freezing your child's creditessentially locks it until
your child is ready to use it.
(12:52):
This will keep identity thieves fromhurting your child's credit history.
So, going back to 2023, my wife andI chose to freeze our son's credit.
And the process was complicated.
I had to pull together a lot of documents.
I had to physically mail it in tothe three big credit companies,
which, by the way, uh, areExperian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
(13:14):
Unfortunately, freezing a minor's creditis not as easy as it is for an adult.
Think back to the National PublicData breach not that long ago.
I was encouraging adults to callnumbers and freeze their credit,
which could be done over the phone.
That is just not the case with children.
You have to prove that you are theguardian to each of the bureaus,
(13:36):
and that will take some legworkon your part to prove that.
Generally, you'll have toidentify who you are, that you
are the guardian of the child.
You'll have to provide your governmentID, their birth certificate,
and a few other documents.
Then there are a few forms that have to befilled out and then physically mailed in.
And of course, the processes aresimilar, but they are not the
(13:59):
same for all three companies.
Plus you'll have to do this processfor each one of your children.
It can get overwhelming,but it is worth it.
I'm not going to go into all thedetails right now because it is an
exhaustive process, but I've createdfor you a free step by step guide on
how to freeze your child's credit.
This is based on what I did tosuccessfully freeze my son's credit.
(14:23):
There are links to the informationthat you'll need and some tips that I
learned along the way, and I'm happyto share those with you for free.
And there's a link inthe show notes for you.
When your child is ready for theircredit to be unfrozen, you'll need
to contact all three companiesagain to initiate the process.
So when you complete the freeze,the company will mail you a
(14:43):
packet of information on howto open the account again.
Keep this information in a safeplace, like a safe deposit box or
a fireproof safe, because you aregoing to need it in the future.
It does seem like a lot ofwork, but consider this.
Would you rather do some work now?
Or do a ton of work later whenyour child's credit is ruined.
(15:06):
It may take years to clear up theresidual effects of identity thieves.
If you discover that your child'sinformation has already been stolen,
you can report it, and then have thosefraudulent accounts closed, and then
you can freeze your child's credit.
The FTC has a processthat they use to help you.
But as you can see, one way or another,freezing your child's credit is going
(15:27):
to be a solution, either for preventionor as an emergency measure when
things have gone really, really wrong.
Parents need to do their part in keepingtheir child's social security number and
their personal data safe and private.
Be proactive and consider freezingyour child's credit now so that they
can have a strong financial future.
(15:51):
Well, this concludes this episodeof The Secure Family Podcast.
Thank you so much, friend,for being a part of the show.
Take back your privacy and personaldata with help from DeleteMe.
Get 20 percent off a privacy planwhen using the code DAD at checkout.
DeleteMe is the official dataremoval service of The Secure Dad.
Keep your kids safe while gamingonline with my new ebook, Level Up.
(16:14):
It's available to you right nowat the link in the show notes.
If you'd like to know more about TheSecure Dad, visit thesecuredad.com.
There you'll find freedownloads, books to buy, podcast
episodes, and a whole lot more.
I'm Andy Murphy, and I want you toconsider freezing your child's credit.
Yes, it is tedious, butit is worth the effort.
(16:37):
Trust me.
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