When a family travels, the main goal is to have fun adventures and make new memories. This brings on a few challenges around the safety of the group, especially children.
Identity fraud is more common than it may look like, and even kids can suffer from this attack.
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Imagine you come home after a fun vacation, only to see that someone has stolen your child’s identity. It’s scary, and many people wouldn’t know what to do.
In this article, we’ll explore how this happens and what to do to prevent it and mitigate damages.
Understanding child identity theft and how it happens
The FTC received 1.4 million reports of identity theft cases, and it’s clear that this isn’t just a problem for adults but for children as well.
When you’re hopping from one place to the next during your vacations, your child’s identity information is at risk.
Why do cybercriminals target children?
The answer is pretty simple. Children’s Social Security numbers are fresh, and parents don’t check their kids’ credit reports regularly.
Thieves can get away with a lot more fraud before anyone notices.
How does child identity theft happen?
Cybercriminals can get to children’s information through several methods.
They could hack into a device, but there’s also physically stealing someone’s documents, spying on conversations, or just snooping around online.
After all, research has proven that at least 87% of people leave personal information exposed online.
When you travel, the risks are greater because you might be accessing public, unsecured Wi-Fi networks regularly. Besides, it’s pretty normal to travel with important documents in a suitcase as well.
Tips to protect your child’s identity while traveling
As we stated before, a lot of people wouldn’t know what to do first if their children got their information stolen.
So, let’s review a few important steps you need to take as soon as you realize you’ve been a victim of identity fraud.
Keep important documents safe
Documents like birth certificates and social security cards shouldn’t travel with you. Keep them secured, for example, stored in a safe.
If they’re not essential for your trip, don’t take them with you.
Don’t mess around with public Wi-Fi
Free Wi-Fi is a great tool to use in emergencies, and there are spots like airports, cafes, and hotels that can save you if you need to be online for something.
However, cybercriminals target these networks very often.
Try not to log onto your banking app while you’re using it, or learn how to hide your IP address with a VPN to stay safe.
Check your child’s online information
Keep an eye on their credit report; one of the fastest ways to realize if someone is committing identity fraud with your child’s information.
You can also freeze your children’s credit to stop people from trying to access unauthorized.
To sum up
While thinking about identity fraud while you’re on vacation is certainly a mood killer, it’s best to be aware and work on preventing the situation instead of doing damage control.
You can easily reduce the risks by not using public Wi-Fi, getting a VPN to hide your IP address, and keeping documents safe.
Don’t forget to regularly check your child’s credit report! Being prepared is, in this case, the best approach you can take.
