Parents have a duty to their children—to look out for their best interests, and prepare them for becoming an adult. However, not all parents have their children’s best interests at heart. This has led to several instances of Parental Identity theft, where a parent used their child’s identifying information (social security number, birth certificate, etc) to open fraudulent accounts in their child’s name and ruin their child’s credit without the child even knowing about it. These cases are especially severe, because entire years can pass before the child has any idea what occurred, and they can be completely blindsided by this parental identity theft once they become an adult and attempt to make their own financial decisions. Luckily (and unlike many other forms of Parental Oppression), Parental Identity Theft is illegal, and treated with the same severity of any other form of identity theft. This means that young people who were victims of this heinous behavior have a recourse against their parents, and a pathway to repair their credit.
In the following webpage, The National Youth Rights Association explains how parental identity theft happens, the impacts of parental identity theft on children, and ways to recover if you are a victim of parental identity theft.
Table of Contents
- How Does Parental Identity Theft Happen?
- Impacts of Parental Identity Theft on Children
- Cases of Parental Identity Theft
- What to do if you are a Victim of Parental Identity Theft
- The Identity Theft Recovery Process
- Filing Charges and Reporting the Case to Law Enforcement
- Legal Penalties for Parents who Commit Identity Theft
- Ways that Identification Laws are Inherently Discriminatory Against Youth
The National Youth Rights Association
If you’re interested in Youth Rights, consider volunteering with us. We are always looking for new members and would love to have you on board. If you have a personal story to share, of being a victim of parental identity theft, or about a general youth rights violation, consider sending us an email at nyra@youthrights.org. We’d love to help get your story out to the world.
How Does Parental Identity Theft Happen?
Parental identity theft happens when a parent or guardian uses a child’s personal information without permission for financial or other fraudulent purposes. In many cases, the parent has easy access to the child’s Social Security number, birth certificate, address, date of birth, insurance information, or other identifying details, which makes the crime easier to commit and harder to detect. A child’s identity is especially attractive because most minors do not actively use credit and usually do not have an established credit file, so fraudulent activity can go unnoticed for years. The FTC explains that child identity theft can involve using a child’s information to open credit cards, obtain loans, rent housing, open utility accounts, get government benefits, or commit other kinds of fraud.
In a parental identity theft situation, the parent may open a credit card in the child’s name, put utility bills in the child’s name, use the child’s Social Security number on loan or employment-related documents, or list the child’s information on accounts that later become delinquent. Sometimes the parent claims the conduct was temporary, necessary to pay family bills, or intended to “help” the child build credit, but if the account is opened without the child’s informed consent and especially if debts are left unpaid, it is still identity theft or fraud. The Office for Victims of Crime has noted that identity theft among family members often occurs when a parent misuses the personally identifying information of a child.
One reason parental identity theft is so harmful is that it often stays hidden until the child is older. The FTC has warned that minors may not discover the theft until they apply for a job, housing, student loans, or other credit-related services, because children generally do not monitor credit files the way adults do. Congressional testimony from the FTC similarly described child identity theft as especially harmful because it may not be detected until the child becomes an adult and seeks employment or financing.
One of the main systemic sources of the problem is the fact that parents are defaultly given a monopoly of control over their children’s identification information, including social security cards, birth certificates, etc. This empowers oppressive parents, who do not have their child’s best interests at heart, to be able to engage in fraudulent credit behaviors with their child’s information.
For more information on the issues that minors and young adults face when it comes getting control of their own identification, watch the following video:
Impacts of Parental Identity Theft on Children
Parental identity theft can damage a child’s credit score and broader financial record before the child is even old enough to understand what credit is. If a parent opens accounts and does not pay them, those accounts can become delinquent, go into collections, and leave negative marks on the child’s credit history—functionally ruining it. This can make it harder for the child, once older, to qualify for a credit card, car loan, apartment lease, cell phone plan, mortgage, or student-related financing. The FTC notes that inaccurate or fraudulent information on a credit report can affect a person’s ability to get credit, insurance, or even a job.
The harm is not limited to credit scores alone. A child whose identity has been used fraudulently may start receiving bills, collection notices, credit offers, or debt collector calls tied to accounts they never opened. CFPB materials identify these as warning signs of child identity theft. In some cases, stolen identities are used for government benefits or medical-related fraud, which can create problems beyond ordinary debt, including benefit interruptions or administrative complications. Recent Texas reporting involving a stolen child identity shows that misuse of a minor’s identity can even affect Medicaid eligibility when fraudulent income or employment is reported under the child’s name.
When the person responsible is a parent, the child may experience betrayal, confusion, guilt, pressure not to report the crime, or fear of harming the family by taking action. Family identity theft can blur the line between criminal wrongdoing and family loyalty, which often makes recovery slower and more emotionally difficult than identity theft committed by a stranger. Reported cases such as Axton Betz-Hamilton’s show that the damage can stretch across many years, affecting both finances and mental well-being.
Because parental identity theft often begins while the victim is still a minor, the damage may accumulate for years before discovery. By the time the child becomes a teenager or young adult, they may already have collections, charge-offs, utility debt, or a badly damaged credit file waiting for them. That can interfere with major life transitions such as going to college, renting a first apartment, financing a vehicle, getting approved for a loan, or simply starting adult life on stable financial footing.
Cases of Parental Identity Theft
One of the best-known reported cases is that of Axton Betz-Hamilton. CBS News reported that she discovered as a young adult that her credit report was filled with fraudulent entries and collection accounts, and she later learned that her mother had stolen her identity when she was 11 years old. Her case has become one of the most widely cited examples of family-based identity theft because it illustrates both the long-term credit damage and the emotional trauma involved when a parent is the perpetrator.
There are also criminal cases involving parents who allegedly opened accounts directly in their children’s names. In March 2025, FOX19 in Cincinnati reported that court records accused a mother of opening 29 credit cards in her daughter’s name, leaving the daughter in debt. That case is a stark example of how parental identity theft can involve repeated account openings over several years rather than a single isolated incident.
Another reported case involved parents charged in New York after authorities said they used a son’s identity to rack up nearly $10,000 in unpaid utility bills and credit card debt, damaging his credit rating. Reporting indicated that the son discovered the issue when applying for a college loan. That example shows how parental identity theft may first come to light only when the child tries to take a normal adult step, such as applying for educational financing.
These cases reflect the fact that these cases are actually relatively common, and parental identity theft has occurred many times. The Office for Victims of Crime has specifically recognized that identity theft often occurs within families, including situations where a parent misuses a child’s personally identifying information.
What to do if you are a Victim of Parental Identity Theft
What someone should do after discovering parental identity theft depends a lot on whether they are still a minor or are already an adult. The core recovery steps are similar in both situations: identify the fraudulent accounts, report the identity theft, dispute the debts and credit reporting, and protect the credit file going forward. But the practical and legal issues can be very different when the suspected offender is your parent.
If you are a Minor and Discover your Parents Used your Identity
If you are still under 18 and discover that a parent has opened accounts, utilities, loans, or other obligations in your name, the first issue is safety and support. Because the person who normally acts for you may also be the person who committed the fraud, it is often important to involve another trusted adult as soon as possible, such as the other parent, another relative, a guardian, a school counselor, a child advocate, or a lawyer. A minor, depending on their age, generally does not have a normal credit file at all. So the existence of accounts or debts in a minor’s name is often a sign of fraud or error. The FTC says one of the first steps is to check whether the child has a credit report with the three nationwide credit bureaus, because minors usually do not.
Once that is confirmed, the next step is to contact the companies where the fraud happened and tell their fraud departments that the accounts were opened using a minor’s information without authorization. The FTC advises asking the companies to close the accounts and to send written confirmation that the child is not responsible. The FTC also says to contact the credit bureaus and ask them to remove fraudulent accounts from the child’s credit report.
A minor’s credit should also be frozen as quickly as possible. The FTC explains that if the child is under 16, an authorized adult can request a free security freeze, and 16- and 17-year-olds may request and remove a freeze themselves. The CFPB likewise notes that bureaus have specific procedures for checking whether a child has a report and for placing protections on it.
If the parent who committed the fraud is the only person who would normally handle these steps, the minor may need outside help to do them. In practice, that may mean getting another adult to help gather documents, preserve evidence, and speak with the bureaus, creditors, or law enforcement. If there is immediate danger, coercion, or retaliation risk, prioritize your personal safety, and make a report to law enforcement before going through the steps of cleaning up the identity theft.
If you are an Adult and Discover your Parents Used your Identity
If you are now an adult and discover that your parents used your identity while you were a minor, or continued using it after you became an adult, the first step is to review your credit reports and identify every account, debt, address, inquiry, or collection item that does not belong to you. IdentityTheft.gov and DOJ guidance both direct victims to review their credit reports carefully and note every unfamiliar account or transaction before beginning formal recovery.
After that, you should place a security freeze or at least a fraud alert on your credit reports so no new accounts can be opened while you are trying to clean up the damage. The CFPB says identity theft victims should place fraud alerts or security freezes and then take steps to protect their credit history and finances.
You should then contact each creditor, lender, utility company, debt collector, or other business involved and state that the account was opened through identity theft and is not yours. Ask for the account to be closed or flagged as fraudulent, ask for written confirmation, and keep copies of everything. If you want more information about how the account was opened or used, the FTC says you can request records from the company in writing, and the company generally has 30 days to provide them if you send the required proof.
Because these cases involve parents, many victims hesitate to act. But if you do not formally dispute the accounts, creditors, collectors, and credit bureaus may keep treating the debt as yours. From a credit-repair standpoint, it is usually much harder to fix the problem if you try to handle it informally inside the family without creating a paper trail.
The Identity Theft Recovery Process
The formal recovery process usually begins by reporting the identity theft to the FTC through IdentityTheft.gov. The FTC says that site is the federal government’s one-stop resource for identity theft victims and that it generates an Identity Theft Report and a personalized recovery plan.
After making that report, the victim should dispute the fraudulent information with both the credit reporting companies and the company that furnished the information. The CFPB says fixing a credit-report error generally means contacting both the credit reporting company and the company that provided the information. CFPB regulations also state that furnishers must reasonably investigate direct disputes that relate to whether the consumer is liable for a debt, including disputes involving identity theft or fraud.
The practical recovery sequence usually looks like this: gather proof, identify all fraudulent accounts, file the FTC report, freeze the credit file, contact the creditors, dispute the entries with the bureaus, and keep written records of all responses. If a bureau or furnisher corrects some items but not others, additional follow-up disputes may be necessary. CFPB guidance stresses that consumers have the right to dispute inaccurate credit information, and CFPB enforcement has recently emphasized that credit reporting companies must properly investigate and correct false information.
If the identity theft involved taxes, employment, government benefits, or medical records, there may also be extra agencies to contact. But for ordinary credit and debt damage, the main recovery path is still the FTC report, disputes to the bureaus and furnishers, and credit-file protection.
Filing Charges and Reporting the Case to Law Enforcement
If you want law enforcement involved, the key point is that you can report the crime, but you do not personally decide whether criminal charges are filed. That decision is made by police, prosecutors, or other government authorities after reviewing the evidence. DOJ guidance says identity theft victims may choose to file a report with their local police department, and FTC materials explain that police reports can be useful in the recovery process.
In a parental identity theft case, filing a police report usually means bringing your identification, your FTC Identity Theft Report, your credit reports, account statements, collection notices, and any documents showing the fraudulent use of your information. A law-enforcement report can matter for two reasons. First, it may help persuade creditors, collectors, and credit bureaus that the debts truly resulted from identity theft. Second, under CFPB Regulation V, a law enforcement report containing detailed information about the identity theft is sufficient on its face to support a victim’s request for an identity theft report.
If the police or prosecutor chooses to pursue the case, the investigation may involve reviewing account applications, IP logs, billing records, payment methods, signatures, address histories, and statements from the victim and suspected parent. Some cases result in no charges, some result in negotiated resolutions, and some lead to prosecution for offenses such as identity theft, fraud, forgery, or theft-related crimes under state law. The exact charges depend on the state and the facts of the case.
Legal Penalties for Parents who Commit Identity Theft
Parents who steal a child’s identity can face the same criminal penalties as any other identity thief. Depending on the facts, they may be investigated for identity theft, fraud, forgery, theft by deception, credit-card fraud, or related offenses under state law, and in some cases they may also face federal charges.
At the federal level, ordinary identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028 can carry fines and prison time of up to 15 years in many cases, with higher maximum penalties in certain aggravated circumstances. Federal law also allows forfeiture of property used to commit the offense.
If the conduct qualifies as aggravated identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A, the offender can face a mandatory additional 2-year prison sentence that must run consecutively to the sentence for the underlying felony. That punishment is added on top of the sentence for the related fraud offense rather than served at the same time.
Beyond jail or prison, parents may also be ordered to pay restitution, meaning repayment for the financial harm they caused, and they can face civil consequences as well, such as judgments for unpaid debts or damage caused to the child’s credit and finances. In practice, the exact penalties depend on the state, the amount of money involved, how many accounts were opened, how long the fraud continued, and whether prosecutors can prove related crimes like bank fraud or forgery.
Ways that Identification Laws are Inherently Discriminatory Against Youth
Unfortunately, in our society, parents are defaultly given a monopoly on their child’s identification information and documents, including social security cards, birth certificates, passports, etc. These documents usually remain in the possession of the parents until the young person turns 18. However, parents may withhold these documents from their children, which can severely hinder their life and transition into adulthood. In most circumstances, the minor is then forced to rely on the information provided by the parents to be able to replace these pieces of documentation, which can become extremely difficult if the parents are unwilling to compromise. These documents are necessary to do most basic tasks of gaining independence, such as opening a bank account, applying for a credit card, acquiring a drivers license, or getting a job. Along with this, a lack of identification and documentation forces young people to enter administrative cycles that further hinders their ability to fix the situation.
Young adults can face a “document loop” when parents withhold or lose their identifying documents: to get one document replaced, they are often asked to show another document they also do not have. For example, replacing a government-issued ID often requires proof of identity or citizenship, such as a birth certificate, while replacing a Social Security card generally requires original documents proving identity, age, and citizenship or immigration status. That can leave a young person stuck if their parent controls their birth certificate, Social Security card, passport, school records, medical records, or other backup documents.
The difficulty becomes even worse when the documents were not merely withheld but lost, destroyed, or never properly obtained. In that situation, the young adult may have to reconstruct their identity record piece by piece, often starting with a birth certificate, then using that to obtain a Social Security card, then using those records to obtain a state ID. Each step may take time and money, and delays can compound if the person lacks stable housing or cannot safely receive mail at the family home. For vulnerable young adults, especially those leaving family conflict, foster care, homelessness, or parental abuse, losing access to basic identity documents can become a major obstacle to escaping control and building an independent life.
Birth certificates, for instance, are usually obtained through the state or local vital records office where the birth occurred, and the CDC directs people to state-by-state vital records offices because rules, fees, and application procedures vary. In order to replace your social security card online, you need to use login.gov. However, this only works if you have supplementary documentation to prove that your social security number belongs to you—which usually requires a drivers license or birth certificate. If a young person doesn’t have these other pieces of ID, they need to show up, in person, to a social security office. This is difficult for young people lacking all forms of documentation, since they are unable to drive there without a drivers license, and unable to pay for transportation easily without online money from a bank account.
The issues resulting from lacking identification have only been exacerbated in recent times. Many online platforms are now requiring ID verification in order to access them unrestricted. This means that if a young person does not have access to identification, they would not be able to use many online platforms, even if they are technically old enough. For example, many social media platforms have minimum ages set at 13 years old. However, if they believe you are younger than this, they will lock your account and require you to verify your ID in order to prove you are old enough to use the platform. If a minor is 13, 14, 15 years old, etc, they will likely not have access to an ID that can be submitted. So in those cases, even when they are technically old enough to use the platform, they are still restricted from doing so due to lack of access to identification. Along with this, if an 18 year old doesn’t have access to identification for external circumstances out of their control, such as their parents losing it or withholding it from them, then they wouldn’t be able to verify their identity on online platforms that require them to be adults, even if they are an adult.
Voting in many places requires a photo ID as well, which makes it so any young person who had their identification withheld from them because of a parent, is now unable to represent themselves in government. Along with this, some police departments require a photo ID in order to make a police report, which further hinders a young person’s ability to report their parent’s obstruction to their identification.
