Your Child's Credit May Be in Use Already

A thief who gets your child's Social Security number has something better than yours: a clean record that nobody checks. The accounts they open can sit there for years, until your child applies for a first loan, card or apartment and is turned down.

This week's door is the one the book calls the number one protection for a child: freeze their credit at all three bureaus.

🎯 Why a child's number is worth stealing

A child's number usually has no credit file at all. That is the problem.

For a child under 16, a parent or guardian can ask each bureau to create a file and freeze it on the spot. Lenders then cannot open new credit with that number.

Since 2018, federal law makes placing and lifting the freeze free at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. These are the three national credit bureaus, and the freeze only works if you do all three.

Thirty minutes tonight means your child starts adult life with a clean record, not someone else's debt.

📕 Where this comes from

This is one of the 263 doors in my book, You're Already a Target. It is on Kindle pre-order now, out November 3.