U.S. Birthrates Are Highest in August

Tag : ID Telephone
A study by the U.S. Census Bureau (2005) shows that August is themonth with the highest number of births recorded in the UnitedStates. Unfortunately, in today's economic climate, many parentsare experiencing more than labor pains, because while still in thehospital, the identities of mother and child are being stolen.

The Federal Trade Commission released its national ID theft survey,which for the first time contains statistics specific to medicalidentity theft. According to the FTC report (p. 21), 3 percent ofall identity theft victims in 2005 were victims of medical identitytheft, which means of 8.3 million ID theft victims, approximately250,000 people were victimized by medical identity theft in thatyear alone.

Jeff Dailey, Farmers President of Personal Lines explains, "Ababy's name can be used to open accounts by using the informationthe mother gives at the hospital, including her maiden name."

It could take years before parents realize that their child'sidentity has been used fraudulently. "Bank accounts can bediscovered when a child first goes for a driver's permit; or achild can be turned down when applying for college education loansor when opening a checking account," Dailey notes. "There are someprecautionary steps that parents can take to protect their childrenand themselves."

-- Do not leave identity papers in your clothing that you hang upin your hospital room. Make sure you empty your pockets and put anyidentification information in a safe place.

-- Leave all of your credit cards at home in a safe, or somewhereyou know will be safe.

-- Once your child has been given a social security number, makefrequent checks of your child's and your credit reports. Your childshould have a clean credit record until 18 years of age.