As children start returning to school, parents should be aware that fraudsters are out there willing to take advantage of scamming opportunities.
Kimberly Reece, the Customer Advocacy Manager for Fraud Prevention at Regions Bank said some of the common back to school scams are online marketplace listings, phishing emails, social media scams, smishing (text messages), job opportunity scams and bank impersonations.
She said parents should check their children’s credit records and make sure nobody has stolen their identity or used their Social Security number.
According to their website, children are often targeted for identity theft.
With a child's Social Security number, a fraudster can open credit card and cell phone accounts and even apply for apartments and home loans. And since your child might not run a credit check until they reach adulthood, the identity theft can go unnoticed for years.
Education is critical.
“At Regions Bank our motto is extra is our ordinary,” Reece said. “We provide financial education to help individuals recognize those scams and protect their personal information. The most important thing is for parents to pass that on to their children.”
Reece said as children get older, it’s important for parents to teach their children what they should not be sharing on social media.
“So, they can protect their personal information by not sharing things like their pins and passwords,” she said.
She said it’s important that children understand that clicking on links and downloading files from unknown sources can allow hackers to access financial and personal information and the consequences that kind of theft could have for the family.
Adults and children should be leery of unsolicited calls from someone claiming to be a bank representative or other trusted roles like a Social Security or government official.
“They pretend to be this trusted official and use that to try and get the individual’s personal information,” she said. “One red flag is that the caller tries to gather the information with a sense of urgency to try and push you into making quick decisions without much thought to get your password, pin or account number.”
Reece said financial institutions would never contact you by phone and request pass codes, pins and account numbers.
“If you feel uncomfortable, end the call,” she said. “We call it stop, call and confirm.
Reece said you should stop the call, look for the official published number of the institution and call them to confirm any situations.
“When you call the institution back look for their published number and don’t click on any message link or calling back the same number they just called from,” she said.
Identity theft prevention starts by keeping close tabs on your child's personal data. Things you might not consider and could lead to a child’s identity theft.
According to their website, as your child starts school and begins to join youth organizations, you'll encounter more forms asking for his or her Social Security number. If the local baseball league requests your child’s personal data, it may not be required. Ask how your child's information will be used and stored before sharing it with others.
It stated that if you receive a notice from the IRS that your child didn't pay taxes or you start receiving collection notices, calls or bills in their name, they may be a victim of identity theft. Even if your child receives just junk mail, check with the three credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to see if they have a credit report.
Regions Bank has several educational resources on their website regarding fraud prevention and reporting for children and adults. You can visit regions.com/stopcallandconfirm.