This crime is happening to children with increasing frequency, according to a June 2014 State Legislatures magazine article. The article attributes this trend to the fact that:
- most children do not have credit histories,
- children’s Social Security numbers are not flagged in fraud prevention databases,
- it often takes years for children to discover that their personal information has been stolen, and
- the information about foster care children is more easily compromised by family members and available to more people.
State legislators are addressing these problems by strengthening criminal penalties, requiring credit reports for children in the foster care system, and allowing parents and guardians to request consumer report security freezes on behalf of their children, the article stated.