Teach Your Kids About Identity Theft

Disclosure:  Raised by Culture aims to provide unbiased editorials. However, I wish to disclose that from time to time I may receive free products or other compensation from companies for blogger reviews.

I have been online since 1996 and always been a little leery of sharing too much personal information online.  Nowadays with more technology and identity theft on the rise, it's even harder to protect yourself on the Internet.  Now that my kids are getting older and staying busy online with their phones, iPods and computers - I shared these common sense tips with them:

Don't share your Social Security Number!
Don't share your full Birthdate!
Don't share your Birth Certificate!
Don't share my Maiden Name!
Don't share your E-Mail Address!
Don't share your License/ID and/or our License Plate!
Don't post pictures of any of these and please don't share your debit/credit cards on Instagram!

I can't tell you how many times I see credit cards on Instagram without the numbers pixelated or blocked.  This is the worst mistake for kids to make!  I don't sugar coat identity theft with my sons, I tell them there are people out there that can ruin their identity and make it hard for them to get credit or even jobs when they get older.

Rewind to about six years ago, when my husband got his annual benefits statement from Social Security in the mail, I noticed that he had salary listings for about 4 years when he was only 10 years old.  He definitely didn't work at that time but we had no proof of who did it so we couldn't pursue it.  Thankfully that person just used his social security number for employment and didn't rack up any credit cards, loans or bills.

Now with LifeLock, they help protect you against more than just credit fraud and identity theft. LifeLock alerts you whenever we detect your personal information being used to apply for wireless services, retail credit, utilities, and mortgage loans within our extensive network.  Don't worry about another thing in life and get with LifeLock...