Atlanta, GAIdentity theft is a problem typically associated with adults, but many children are also victims of fraud, often at the hands of family members.
The number of child victims of identity theft is increasing in Georgia, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Often it is a parent or family member who uses the child's social security number to apply for a credit card or loan; the child typically won't find out about this fraud until he or she has grown up and applies for their own credit card or student loan.
"They won't be able to get a credit card. Or if the debt owed is disproportionate to their earnings, then they can't get loans. It's difficult to get a car," Michelle Jones, senior vice president of counseling for CredAbility, told the news source. "The worst case scenario ... you have a young adult who is facing filing for bankruptcy on a debt that they never personally incurred."
Georgia Office of Consumer Affairs spokesman Bill Cloud told the news provider that child identity theft is a "growing problem," with the percentage of identity theft victims who were children rising from 3 percent in 2003 to about 5 percent in 2006.
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