The Barrington Financial Group, Inc.

As we mentioned in another article, most children do not use their Social Security number until they are at least 14 years old, the earliest age they are allowed to work.  Using someone else's Social Security number is identity theft and is a criminal offense.  Scam artists do this because their own credit file is ruined, and they are unable to obtain credit without paying exorbitant fees. They believe that using the child's Social Security number allows them to have a new credit identity and not get caught for years.  Sometimes when the child comes of legal age to work, their credit has already been ruined.  Hard as it may be to believe, it is usually a relative that is the culprit.  There have even been cases of mothers or fathers stealing their own child's identity. Stealing a child's identity is the same as stealing anyone else's identity.  It is identity theft, no matter who does it and the perpetrator will go to jail for it, if caught.