Turhan A. is a 50-year-old criminal from Los Angeles who stole the social security numbers and identities of children to commit over $3 million in fraud.
He used the stolen identities to obtain credit cards, open bank accounts, purchase cars, and even homes.
In addition, Turhan failed to report his income to the IRS for over 8 years.
He was able to run his scheme for more than ten years before he was caught and sentenced to 21 years in federal prison.
He worked with other people to use the identities to obtain car loans and then exported the cars out of the country to be sold.
He was caught with multiple fake IDs and hundreds of credit cards in the names of kids.
Turhan was charged with many crimes.
This included identity theft, money laundering, and financial institution fraud.
During the investigation, officials found that he had homes in California, Florida, and Georgia.
Law enforcement described his crimes as a way of life, not a few bad decisions.
“The victims of his crimes run the gamut: banks, credit card issuers, car dealerships, utility companies, and the people all over the country whose identities [he] stole,” according to court documents.
The reality is that children’s identities are a prime target for criminals.
It’s estimated that over one million children have their identities stolen each year, and over 65% of the victims are under the age of 8.
Sadly, being the victim of identity theft can impact kids for many years.
For instance, it could prevent a kid from obtaining financial aid for college or even getting their first job.
In many cases, kids aren’t aware they are the victim of fraud until they try to buy their first car or apply to rent a place to live and don’t qualify.
Another reason that children are targets of identity theft is that most kids don’t have credit reports.
This gives the thieves a blank slate to start their crimes.
With the vulnerability of children, here are a few things you can do as parents or grandparents to help your little ones stay safe from identity fraud.
Don’t share their Social Security:
Our social security numbers are used to identify us at places like doctor’s offices, schools, and banks.
The school district likely has your kid’s social security number and so do other places.
But, at the end of the day, it’s not a must-have piece of information.
The school should be able to identify your child from their name, address, and telephone number.
So, if the school district or doctor’s office asks for a social security number I would decline to provide it.
Talk to kids about social media:
Criminals love to use social media to find victims, and there are plenty of adults who fall for social media scams or phishing attempts.
Children are even more vulnerable, because most kids are not following the best cybersecurity protocols.
This is why it’s critical to talk to your kids about what they share on social media.
They shouldn’t share their address, date of birth, or anything that can be used to identify them or where they live.
Obtain a credit freeze:
A credit freeze for a minor is free to obtain and it doesn’t impact their future credit score.
It can only be requested by the kid’s parent or guardian and would need to be completed with all three credit bureaus.
You need to provide the credit bureau with your identifying documents as well as proof that you are the minor’s parent or guardian.
Each credit bureau has different requirements, and in most cases the parent needs to provide proof of being the parent such as a birth certificate or court order.
One thing to keep in mind is that two in three cases of children’s identity fraud is committed by someone who knows the child.
So, if your kids are the victim of identity fraud, look at people close to the child.
Resolving identity fraud is an expensive process.
In fact, the average victim spends about $1,100 to fix their identity theft.
If your children or grandchildren start receiving credit card offers or IRS notices this could be a sign that someone is using their identity.
