Children's Credit Freeze Prevents Identity Theft

This is a news story, published by CNBC, that relates primarily to Federal Trade Commission news.

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CNBC

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Why parents may want to start locking a child's credit at a very young age

Summary

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86% Informative

Identity theft of children under age 19 is a growing issue, according to Federal Trade Commission data.

Freezing a minor's credit with the three major credit bureaus can avoid a lot of hassle later when the children are old enough to apply for their first credit card, finance a car or seek student loans.

It can take some time and effort to lock a child's credit, but the outlay is minimal compared with what can be a lengthy and emotional credit restoration process.

The process for initiating a credit freeze varies slightly depending on the credit bureau and the age of a minor child.

Parents need to keep safe the pin number they are provided when locking their child's credit so it can be temporarily unlocked as needed.

Parents should talk to their children about best practices with respect to sharing personal information.

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Informative language

Neutral language

Article tone

informal

Language

English

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Offensive language