CreditLock.com

There have been several articles written warning parents about the risk of Identity Theft to their children. Furthermore, some companies have also offered services to protect children against Identity Theft. One such company charges as much as $25 per year for such service, as long as one adult in the same home is a regular annual paying client (paying $110 per year). The service essentially places Fraud Alerts on the client's credit report, and renews such alerts on behalf of the customer once every 3 months. What many parents may not know is that many children do not even have a Credit Report. Furthermore, Fraud Alerts is a service that any consumer is entitled to place himself for free with the Credit Reporting companies. Even if your child does have a Credit Report, does he/she really need one?

Some credit advisors will tell you that providing an early start for your child on his credit history could ultimately lower his borrowing costs and improve his credit score. What you are not told is that your child could also end up messing up his credit history by not handling such responsibility properly. Legal drinking age is 21. Legal voting age is 18. Legal army recruiting age is 18. If your child is not considered mature enough to drink, vote, or join the army before such age, is he mature enough to borrow money? Financial management is more complex, and may require more skill than those other "adult" entitlements.

Parents are the ultimate best judge of the maturity of their children. If a parent believes that it is in his child's best interest to establish a credit history at a very early age, then such parent is certainly entitled to make such judgment. However, a parent should also be alert to the risk of Identity Theft, and the negative effect such risk could impose on his child. Identity Theft could occur for many different reasons, and no one can guaranty anyone against possibly becoming a victim of identity theft. However, in case Identity Theft is committed for the purpose of obtaining new credit and new loans in the name of a victim, then there are certain steps that can be taken to deter such threat, and minimize any resulting damage.

If a child has a Credit History, then it makes a lot of sense to Lock Down access to the child's Credit Report. By placing a Credit Freeze, criminals are unlikely to be able to secure new credit or new loans in the name of their victim. Furthermore, if legitimate access is required for the Credit Report, the credit Freeze can be removed on a temporary or permanent basis. Such removal is typically processed anywhere between 15 minutes and five days from the time such request is made. Since children are not typically seeking full time employment, multiple credit accounts, home purchases nor home rentals, then the inconvenience of possibly waiting a few days for such removal is unlikely to apply. Many states have passed Credit Freeze laws to protect their residents, and consumers can check availability in their state, and print kits at http://www.creditlock.com/creditlockdownpro.html .

In a recent article published by PR Web, AP9 Privacy Matters reminded readers that according to the FTC, as many as 400,000 American children had their identities stolen last year. Those who had existing credit histories, and had locked down access to their credit report, would be well equipped to reduce financial damage resulting from unauthorized access to their credit report. In case a child does not have a credit history, it is theoretically possible for the Identity Thief to establish a new Credit History in the name of his victim. For such reason, it may also make sense for parents to attempt to monitor the Credit Report of their child. That can be accomplished by accessing a free annual credit report, from each of the three credit reporting agencies. When doing so, a parent will find out if such report exists or not. Additional information on such service is available at http://www.creditlock.com .