Freezing your credit is one of the most important steps you can take to protect yourself against identity theft and fraud.
But did you know that children are also vulnerable to identity theft? Criminals can steal a child’s identity and use it for fraudulent purposes including opening lines of credit, applying for loans, signing up for utilities and rentals, applying for unemployment, and filing fraudulent tax returns. By freezing your child’s credit reports it prevents criminals from opening lines of credit in their name.
Most minors do not have a credit file, but if you have added your child as an authorized user on one of your credit accounts to help them build a credit history, they may have a credit report. They may also have a credit file if a criminal has stolen their personal information and opened accounts in their name.
All three major credit bureaus allow parents and guardians to place a security freeze on their children’s credit report. If the child does not have a credit file, the agencies will create one and then freeze it.
https://www.equifax.com/personal/education/identity-theft/freezing-your-childs-credit-report-faq/
https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/should-you-freeze-your-childs-credit-file/
https://www.transunion.com/blog/identity-protection/child-identity-theft
Protect your children by freezing their credit. Most minors do not realize their identity has been stolen until much later when they try to obtain a driver’s license, apply for credit, or take out a student loan. Identity theft is expensive and time consuming to recover from so take steps to prevent this from happening.
The Tech Minimalist 