Kids Are Easy Prey for Identity Thieves:

Because identity theft is typically associated with financial matters like the misuse of credit cards, most people don’t consider the possibility their child’s personal information could be misused. But more than 34,000 reports of identity theft reported to the Federal Trade Commission from 2005 to 2007 concerned children under age 18.

Because children don’t have complex financial lives, there is less opportunity to notice something has gone awry than for adults who try to access loans, mortgages and credit cards.

A second major reason is that frequently, the thief is a parent or other relative of the child.

Though you may feel secure in your own family, another recurring scenario is that a child’s Social Security number becomes associated with a different name – a technique that’s sometimes used by an undocumented immigrant or someone trying to avoid child support payments.

Source: Mlive.com