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I’ve been trying to freeze my infant son’s credit and they’ve made it absurdly and maliciously complicated. In addition to mailing a physical letter requesting
by JauntTrooper 9y ago
I’ve been trying to freeze my infant son’s credit and they’ve made it absurdly and maliciously complicated.
In addition to mailing a physical letter requesting the freeze to each organization, they require copies of his birth certificate AND social security card AND my social security card AND my drivers license AND proof of address (I.e. utility bill) AND a form from the Social Security Administration AND a court order/power of attorney or notarized statement of an authority to act on his behalf. And money of course.
That court order requirement is a doozy. I don’t even know how to get one of those. So I haven’t pursued it further, which I’m sure was their intent.
And of course there’s the question about how wise it is to send these sloppy, negligent organizations all this sensitive info. Hopefully they fix this racket by the time he turns 18.
- lancepioch 9y agoWhy are you trying to freeze his credit? I don't think he'll even be in their systems until he gets his first financial account, presumably years later.
- JauntTrooper 9y agoThat’s what makes his social security number an attractive target for identity theft. He won’t check it for over a decade. https://www.npr.org/2017/10/18/556237149/to-protect-children-from-identity-theft-parents-must-be-proactive https://www.npr.org/2017/10/18/556237149/to-protect-children... Quote from the article: > A 2011 report on child identity theft from Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab found that of the participants surveyed, the rate of identity theft for children was 51 times higher than that of adults. Social Security numbers are of special interest because they can be associated with any name and birthdate, the report showed. They also offer thieves a clean financial canvas.