A UNIONTOWN, Pa. Woman is being accused of stealing the identities of her father and two children. According to police 32 year old woman Tina Price used the names of her two children 7 and 2 to apply for 25 credit cards. Price is also being accused of using her father’s information to apply for more than 39 credit cards.

Police began investigating when Tina Price’s father received a bill for a computer that he didn’t purchase. Tina Price was arrested on two bench warrants for writing bad checks and then was charged with 64 counts of identity theft.

It’s shocking when you read stories about people taking advantage of their family. Your family is supposed to be the group of people you are closest to in the whole world. This woman chose to take advantage for her own children and father and steal from them. She stole their identities, ruined their credit, and made purchases on the fraudulent cards. I don’t understand how someone could treat their family like that.

The sad thing is when it comes to child identity theft the majority of the time the parents are the ones to blame. It will be a sad day when a child grows up only to find his or her credit was ruined by their parents. In fact many identity thefts involve people you know. So don’t be afraid to protect your private information from those who you think you know.

You buy the best car seat. You diligently track vaccination schedules. You warn them about strangers who offer candy. But, because of people like Craig Curtis, your child needs more protection.

Curtis, 36, was convicted in December 2008 for organizing a scheme to steal children’s identities, and use their Social Security numbers to buy luxury cars and expensive townhouses in Houston. Most of the townhouses were in foreclosure within a year of being purchased.

He was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in federal prison for wire fraud and an additional two years for aggravated identity theft. He must also pay $2,085,396 in restitution to lenders, and will serve three more years of supervised release when he gets out of prison.

But, none of that is going to repair the damage done to children whose credit records now show they bought houses that ended up in foreclosure. Presumably, the young victims’ families know now about the ID theft, but correcting the credit files can take years, and in some cases, the errors may never be fully resolved.

Typically, children don’t have credit records. But, the first time a credit application is made using a child’s Social Security number, the file is created, and whatever birth date is used on the application becomes a permanent part of the file.

According to a recent study by Javelin Strategy and Research, 5% of children have at least one credit report using their Social Security number; among those 5%, the children have an average of $12,779 in fraudulent or wrongly assigned debt.

LifeLock was the first identity theft protection service to provide protection for children. Visit LifeLock.com to learn more about their services. Enroll using the LifeLock promotion code DEFENSE and protect your children for as little as $2.25 a month and get 30 days of free protection.

Several hard drives containing the personal information of 40,000 Arizona children were stolen from a public storage unit in Phoenix.

Families who applied for services from the Arizona Department of Economic Security’s Early Intervention Program have received letters warning them that their children may be at risk of identity theft.

Names, addresses, phone numbers and children’s birth dates for all the families referred to the program over the past few years were on the stolen hard drives. If the families applied for and received services from the program, their Social Security numbers, insurance information and information about their children’s disabilities were also on the stolen hard drive.

The program provides support services to families with young children who have disabilities or developmental delays.

Because other storage units in the area were also broken into and robbed, DES spokeswoman Liz Barker Alvarez said they don’t think the DES hard drives were the target of the theft. The thieves stole several articles of furniture and electronics from the other units not used by DES.

Official also said the hard drive was password protected, making the sensitive information harder to access.

The identities of a half million children are stolen every year, according to a recent study by the Identity Theft Resource Center. Identity thieves target young children because it usually takes several years before the crime is detected—usually when the child is old enough to begin applying for a first job, a car loan or a student loan for college.

Consumer advocates want every school child to learn about preventing identity theft. And, while the uninitiated might think that’s a little extreme, Zach Friesen isn’t one of them.

Friesen was 17 when he discovered someone had used his identity to buy a $40,000 houseboat. Friesen was 7 years old and just mastering a two-wheeler when the purchase was made. Neither he nor his mother know how his personal information was obtained. They suspect it might have originated with a visit to the pediatrician’s office and a request to supply the boy’s Social Security number.

The identity theft was brought to light when Friesen was turned down for a student loan and a job because of his disastrous credit history. He spent the next 10 years working to clear up errors in his financial records and credit report. He is now a spokesman for LifeLock identity theft protection, and tells his story every chance he gets.

The recent push for identity theft education comes on the heels of a first-ever report on child identity theft. According to the research conducted by Javelin Strategy and Research, one in five children – that’s at least one child in every classroom — is already an identity theft victim, though most probably won’t learn of their victimization until they’re much older.

Your four-year-old might be too young to drive a car, but that doesn’t mean he never bought one. Unfortunately, now his credit is so bad, even long after he is old enough to drive a car, he won’t be able to buy another one.

That’s the beauty of child identity theft; a thief can use a child’s identity for years before anyone notices there’s a problem, and by that time, the thief is gone and the trail is cold. The Federal Trade Commission estimates there are 400,000 victims of child identity theft every year. Other sources claim there are many more victims whose cases just haven’t come to light yet.

How could it happen?

Think of how many times you’ve been asked for, and given, your child’s Social Security number: the pediatrician’s office, the day care center, the emergency room, his elementary, junior high and high school, athletic coordinators, after-school programs…any of them could have failed to protect your child’s personal information. Or an employee in an office somewhere could have written it down and sold it.

Your child could have given it out online or over the phone.

Sadly, child identity theft is usually perpetrated by a parent or another member of the child’s family. Parents who get in a financial jam take out credit cards in their kids’ names to make ends meet. Thinking they’ll be able to pay the money back before the child needs it, their identity theft can be rationalized as a victimless crime.

The warning signs

Credit card offers in the mail may seem like common fare to you, but if your child starts receiving them, it could mean trouble. Credit card offers are made to people who already use credit; if your youngster is being offered a credit card, it probably means there’s a credit account in his name, somewhere.

Worse yet, bill collectors may start dunning your child by mail or phone. Don’t assume it’s a simple clerical error. Ask that they send you all pertinent documentation.

Request your child’s credit report. The only acceptable response is “no record exists.” Any other response means somebody has used your child’s identity to obtain credit.

How can you prevent child identity theft?

Don’t give out your child’s Social Security number just because someone asks for it; always ask if it’s essential. If it is required information, ask how the agency or company that’s using it will protect if.

Don’t carry Social Security cards in your wallet—yours or your child’s.

Don’t let your child have or give out his Social Security number until he’s old enough to understand how important it is. Until that time, if he asks for it, find out who needs it and why, and then contact them yourself.

Request your child’s credit report at least once a year.