Child Identity Theft: Check and Freeze Your Child's Credit

Child identity theft happens when someone uses your child's Social Security number, name, or date of birth to open accounts, get a job, file taxes, or rent a home. Most children should not have a credit file at all, so the fix is simple in theory: check with each of the three credit bureaus, and if a file exists, freeze it. If you find fraud, report it at IdentityTheft.gov and dispute every account in writing.

Below is the plain-English version of how to do all of that, plus what to do if your child's information showed up in a data breach, a school hack, or a medical records leak. We are Getshure, a small American publisher and protection service, and we will also show you where our book and app fit in.

Why children are targeted

A child's Social Security number is valuable to criminals for one reason: it is clean. No late payments, no existing accounts, no one checking it. A thief can pair that number with a different name and birthday (called "synthetic identity theft") and build a fake person who passes credit checks for years. By the time your child applies for a student loan, a first apartment, or a job at 18, the damage is already done.

Common ways a child's information gets exposed:

• School district or university data breaches
• Pediatrician, dentist, or hospital record breaches
• Youth sports leagues, camps, and after-school programs that collect SSNs
• A relative with access to the child's documents who is in financial trouble
• Lost or stolen Social Security cards, passports, or birth certificates
• Oversharing on social media (full name, birthday, school, address)

The Federal Trade Commission tracks child identity theft as a distinct category of fraud and publishes guidance at consumer.ftc.gov.

Warning signs your child's identity may be in use

• Pre-approved credit card offers arriving in your child's name
• Calls from collection agencies asking for your child
• Bills, bank statements, or IRS notices addressed to your minor
• A letter from the IRS saying your child owes taxes or that their SSN was used on a return
• Being denied government benefits because they are "already being paid" to another account using your child's SSN
• A warning from your child's school that their records were part of a breach

You do not need to see any of these signs to check. Many parents find out only when their teen applies for a job or college aid. Checking early is the whole point.

Step 1: Ask each credit bureau if your child has a file

Under federal law, a minor should not have a credit report unless someone created one — either legitimately (a parent added them as an authorized user) or fraudulently. You contact each of the three bureaus separately and ask them to check.

1. Equifax — equifax.com. Equifax has a Minor Child Request form you mail in with copies of documents.
2. Experian — experian.com. Experian has a minor credit file check process; follow their instructions for parents and guardians.
3. TransUnion — transunion.com. TransUnion has a Child Identity Theft Inquiry form.

You will typically be asked to send:

• A copy of your child's birth certificate
• A copy of your child's Social Security card
• A copy of your government-issued photo ID
• Proof of address (utility bill, bank statement) that matches your ID
• A completed request form from that bureau

Send everything by certified mail and keep copies. Expect a written response. If a bureau replies that no file exists, that is good news — and it is the moment to freeze proactively (Step 2).

Step 2: Freeze your child's credit at all three bureaus

Since 2018, federal law has required the three major bureaus to let a parent or guardian place a free security freeze on a minor's credit file. If no file exists yet, the bureau will create one and immediately freeze it. A freeze blocks new creditors from pulling the report, which stops most new-account fraud at the door.

1. Go to each bureau's website and search for "minor child security freeze" or "protected consumer freeze."
2. Download the parent/guardian freeze form.
3. Fill it out for each child and each bureau (three forms per child).
4. Mail the forms with the documents listed above.
5. Save the confirmation letters and freeze PINs in a safe place. You will need them to lift the freeze later.

Freezes stay in place until you or your child (at 16+) asks to lift them. There is no cost. You will need to lift the freeze when your child applies for a first credit card, student loan, phone plan, or apartment, so keep the paperwork where you can find it in 10 years.

What a freeze does and does not do

A freeze blocks most new credit applications. It does not undo existing fraud, it does not stop tax-related identity theft, and it does not cover medical identity theft or employment fraud using your child's SSN. Those require separate action (see Step 4).

Step 3: Check your child's Social Security earnings record (for older kids)

If someone is using your child's SSN to work, it may show up in Social Security Administration records as earnings. For a young child, any earnings at all are a red flag. You can contact the SSA at ssa.gov to ask how to check a minor's record. The SSA's Office of the Inspector General accepts reports of SSN misuse at oig.ssa.gov.

The IRS also has a process for identity theft affecting a dependent. If your tax return is rejected because your child was already claimed as a dependent on another return, that is a classic sign. File IRS Form 14039 (Identity Theft Affidavit) and follow the instructions at irs.gov.

Step 4: If you find fraud, report it and dispute every account

1. Report to the FTC. Go to identitytheft.gov, choose "Someone has my information," and follow the guided plan for a child. You will get an FTC Identity Theft Report, which creditors must honor.
2. File a police report in the jurisdiction where you live. Bring the FTC report, your ID, your child's documents, and any letters or statements you received in your child's name.
3. Contact every company that opened a fraudulent account. Ask for their identity theft/fraud department. Send a written dispute with the FTC report attached. Ask them to close the account and send written confirmation that your child is not responsible.
4. Ask the bureaus to remove fraudulent items from your child's file. Send the FTC Identity Theft Report and your proof of parentage. Then re-freeze the file.
5. Report to your state attorney general and, if applicable, the school or organization where the breach occurred.
6. If online fraud is involved (phishing, account takeover, online accounts opened in your child's name), also file at ic3.gov.

Keep a dated log of every call, letter, and email. This paperwork is what clears your child's name.

Step 5: Protect your child going forward

• Leave the credit freeze in place until your child needs credit.
• Lock Social Security cards, birth certificates, and passports in a fireproof safe. Do not carry them.
• Ask schools, doctors, camps, and sports leagues why they need an SSN. Often they will accept a different identifier.
• Shred any mail that contains your child's full name and address.
• Talk to your child about not sharing their full name, birthday, school, or address publicly on games or social apps.
• Once a year, repeat Step 1 and ask each bureau to confirm no file exists (or that only the frozen one does).

The book for families: "Keep Your Family Safe from AI"

If you want the long version of what to teach your kids — about scams, fake accounts, sextortion, deepfakes, and keeping personal information off the open internet — our hardcover Keep Your Family Safe from AI is written for parents and grandparents in plain English. It covers identity protection for minors, the conversations to have at each age, the settings to change on the phones in your house, and the step-by-step plans to run when something goes wrong.

It is $29, ships free with any order of $40 or more in the continental US, and comes with the same 30-day money-back guarantee as everything else we sell. You can also pair it with Don't Get Screwed by AI for adult-focused scam protection.

How the Getshure app helps with the ongoing work

Freezing a credit file is a one-time job. Keeping your family's information off the open internet is not. Data brokers constantly rebuild profiles using public records, social media, and leaked data, and children's information often ends up on "people-search" sites once a parent's profile is scraped.

Every Getshure protection plan includes the Getshure app, which helps with: On Android, get the Getshure app on Google Play; on iPhone, use the download link in your GETSHURE order email.

• Data broker removal — sends removal and opt-out requests to people-search and broker sites on your behalf. Each site decides if and when it removes a record, so this is ongoing work, not a one-time push.
• Breach check — tells you whether your email or passwords have appeared in known data breaches, so you know when it's time to change a password or warn a family member.
• Scam Shield — identifies likely scam and spam callers and helps block robocalls, including the "debt collector" calls that often follow identity theft.
• Encrypted private vault — a place to store photos of your child's Social Security card, birth certificate, and the freeze confirmation letters, locked behind Face ID or a passcode.
• Reverse-image search (Photo Guard) — find out where photos of your child may already appear online.
• Family location sharing, tracker blocking, and a phone security score to tighten everyone's phone settings.

No app blocks every scam or every leak, and we will not pretend otherwise. But the combination of a frozen credit file, ongoing data-broker cleanup, and breach alerts is the practical defense for a family in 2025.

Plans start at $9.99 today, then $29.99 every 30 days until you cancel, and you can cancel in one step at getshure.com/cancel. Every plan charge, renewal, and add-on is covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee — no reason needed. If you add Identity Theft Restoration, our team will help you through credit freezes, bank disputes, the IRS identity theft form, and police and FTC reports by email. It is human help, not insurance; it does not reimburse lost money, but it walks you through the paperwork so you are not doing it alone.

Quick checklist

• Ask Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion if your child has a credit file
• Place a free minor security freeze at all three bureaus
• Save the freeze confirmation letters and PINs in a safe place
• Check your child's SSA earnings record if they are a teen
• If you find fraud, start at identitytheft.gov and file a police report
• Dispute every fraudulent account in writing
• Lock up Social Security cards and birth certificates at home
• Repeat the bureau check once a year

Ready to lock things down?

You can do every step above yourself for free — and you should. If you want a family-friendly book that walks everyone through it, order Keep Your Family Safe from AI. If you want help keeping your family's information off data broker sites and getting alerts when something leaks, start a Getshure protection plan and activate the Getshure app. Questions first? Call us at (754) 812-1679 Monday–Friday, 9 AM – 6 PM ET, or email contact@getshure.com. We're a real Delaware company (MetaWise Enterprises, LLC, file number 10336625) based in Coral Springs, Florida, and you can verify every policy on this page before you buy.