Millions of children exposed to ID theft through Anthem breach

Adults aren't the only ones who can have their identity stolen.

Tens of millions of American children had their Social Security numbers, date of birth and health care ID numbers stolen in the recent data breach at health insurance giant, Anthem Inc. This exposes these kids to the real risk of identity theft.

"Every terrible outcome that can occur as the result of an identity theft will happen to the children who were on that database," said Adam Levin, chairman and founder of IDentityTheft 911. "Criminals will use those stolen Social Security numbers to open accounts, get medical treatment, commit tax fraud, you name it."

Tim Rohrbaugh, chief experience officer at Identity Guard, calls the Anthem breach "catastrophic" and predicts the stolen information "will be used in waves of financial crimes" against American children for decades.

"This is a watershed event," Rohrbaugh said. "There is no other bulk acquisition of this much personal data - names, birthdates, addresses and Social Security numbers - that I am aware of in history."

And because the children's information was linked to their parents' data, it will make it much easier for cybercriminals to commit fraud against the parents as well, Rohrbaugh said.

The Social Security number was never supposed to be used as a national identifier, but it's become that. For an identity thief, that nine-digit number is the brass ring. It's the skeleton key that unlocks your life.

A child's number is even more valuable. Here's why: For most minors, their number is pristine - it's never been used and is not yet associated with a credit file. That means there's very little chance that the credit reporting agencies are monitoring it.

So a criminal can take that stolen number, combine it with someone else's name, address and birth date to create a fake ID - what fraud fighters call a "synthetic ID" - that can be used for all sorts of fraudulent purposes

"Now it's really all about detection," said Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the non-profit Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC). "Parents need to keep an eye out for any red flags that signal their child's stolen Social Security number has been used by a thief."

Those warning signs include:

• Collection calls or notices for a debt incurred in your child's name
• Mailings that would generally be for someone over the age of 18, such as pre-approved credit card offers, jury duty notices or parking tickets
• An insurance bill or explanation of benefits from a doctor listing medical treatments or services that did not take place
• A notice from the IRS that your child's name and/or Social Security number is already listed on another tax returnFraud experts encourage all parents to check to see if their underage children have credit reports. All three of the major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, allow parents to do this at no cost.