Editing Identity theft (section)

=== Child identity theft ===
Child identity theft occurs when a minor's identity is used by another person for the impostor's personal gain. The impostor can be a family member, a friend, or even a stranger who targets children. The Social Security numbers of children are valued because they do not have any information associated with them.  Thieves can establish lines of credit, obtain driver's licenses, or even buy a house using a child's identity. This fraud can go undetected for years, as most children do not discover the problem until years later.  Child identity theft is fairly common, and studies have shown that the problem is growing. The largest study on child identity theft, as reported by Richard Power of the Carnegie Mellon Cylab with data supplied by [[AllClear ID]], found that of 40,000 children, 10.2% were victims of identity theft.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/government-turns-spotlight-on-child-id-theft-problem|title=Government Turns Spotlight on Child ID Theft Problem|date=12 January 2016|website=CreditCards.com|language=en-US|access-date=22 April 2019}}</ref>

The [[Federal Trade Commission]] (FTC) estimates that about nine million people will be victims of identity theft in the United States per year. It was also estimated that in 2008; 630,000 people under the age of 19 were victims of theft. This then gave the victims a debt of about $12,799.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A317310399/AONE?u=sunybuff_main&sid=AONE&xid=8502170b.|title=Protecting and defending a young person in foster care from financial identity theft|last=Clemente|first=Jean|date=Feb 2010}}</ref>

Not only are children in general big targets of identity theft but children who are in foster care are even bigger targets. This is because they are most likely moved around quite frequently and their SSN is being shared with multiple people and agencies. Foster children are even more victims of identity theft within their own families and other relatives. Young people in foster care who are victims of this crime are usually left alone to struggle and figure out how to fix their newly formed bad credit.<ref name=":5" />

The emergence of children's identities on social media has also contributed to a rise in incidents of digital kidnapping and identity theft. [[Digital kidnapping]] involves individuals stealing online images of children and misrepresenting them as their own.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Berg |first1=Valeska |last2=Arabiat |first2=Diana |last3=Morelius |first3=Evalotte |last4=Kervin |first4=Lisa |last5=Zgambo |first5=Maggie |last6=Robinson |first6=Suzanne |last7=Jenkins |first7=Mark |last8=Whitehead |first8=Lisa |date=2024-02-21 |title=Young Children and the Creation of a Digital Identity on Social Networking Sites: Scoping Review |journal=JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting |language=EN |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=e54414 |doi=10.2196/54414|doi-access=free |pmid=38381499 |pmc=10918551 }}</ref>