For parents, back-to-school season equals lots of paperwork — not only for school enrollment, but also for youth sports, clubs and even a teen’s first after-school job. Unfortunately, the piles of paper often leave a child vulnerable to identity theft, an increasingly serious problem in our country.

The number of reported child identity theft cases in the U.S. has increased by 200 percent since 2003, according to the Federal Trade Commission. A 2011 Carnegie Mellon CyLab study found that one in 10 children has had his or her identity compromised.

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Despite the increasing prevalence of this problem, more than 80 percent of parents with minor children say they are largely unfamiliar with child identity theft, according to a third-party research study commissioned by Equifax. As children head back to school during the next few weeks, identity experts at Equifax suggest parents slow down and carefully consider how and why they hand over a child’s information.

“As parents today, we are all busy, so it’s tempting to quickly fill out paperwork without questioning it,” said Trey Loughran, president of the Personal Solutions unit at Equifax. “However, it is important to be careful about how and why you share your child’s information. Identity theft is a very personal crime, and it can take years to get a child’s identity back after it’s been stolen.”

Key identity theft protection tips for back-to-school season include:

Carry your child’s Social Security card, birth certificate or passport with you only when absolutely necessary.
Unless you initiate contact, do not provide your child’s Social Security number (or any part of it) over the phone, online or in-person.
If you are asked for your child’s Social Security number ask these three questions: Why is it needed? Isn’t there another way to identify my child? How will my child’s information be protected?
Lock birth certificates and documents with your child’s Social Security number in a safe place.
Purchase and use a cross-cut shredder.
Talk with your children about identity theft. Create a safe environment with open dialogue. Leave the door open for them to ask questions or express concerns.
Most schools ask for personal identifying information. Ask if this is optional or if another form of identification such as a utility bill is sufficient.
Never use your child’s Social Security number to open accounts for your benefit. This may be tempting if you have bad credit, but not paying bills on time could keep your child from getting credit cards, student loans, an apartment, or even a job when they turn 18.
Consider a credit monitoring and identity theft protection product for your family, such as Equifax Complete™ Family Plan, which can help protect the identities of two adults and up to four minor children in one comprehensive plan.

For more information about the Equifax Complete Family Plan, visit http://www.equifax.com/family. Learn more about child identity theft in our downloadable education kit.

About Equifax

Equifax Personal Solutions empowers consumers with the confidence and control to be their financial best. Find out more about Equifax’s innovative suite of credit monitoring and identity theft protection products designed to enable consumers to maximize their financial well-being at http://www.equifax.com. Get smart information on everything from credit to retirement, all in one place at the Equifax Finance Blog, http://www.blog.equifax.com.

Equifax is a global leader in consumer and commercial information solutions, providing businesses of all sizes and consumers with information they can trust. We organize and assimilate data on more than 500 million consumers and 81 million businesses worldwide, and use advanced analytics and proprietary technology to create and deliver customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers. Headquartered in Atlanta, Equifax operates or has investments in 18 countries and is a member of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500® Index. Its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. For more information, please visit http://www.equifax.com.

The issue of what to do about keeping information safe while online is still a major problem, especially for college students. The average mean cost of identity theft is $631, the average time to resolve it is 33 hours, and nearly 4 percent of Americans experience it (according to www.westflorida.bbb.org).

Dr. Faisal Abdullah, the chair of the Lewis University Department of Management Information Systems, said, “Every semester I have students who tell me, ‘I have a virus on my computer. What do I do?’”

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Abdullah recommendations for securing online information include:

1) Have a strong password. Think about your favorite song. Select a random phrase as your password. Use upper and lower cases and special characters to make a strong password. Use a hip-hop song, Hip-hop songs contain words not found in the dictionary

2) Do not save passwords on your computer. This includes passwords of your email account, blackboard, Facebook, banks, etc. Once passwords are saved on a computer, they can be accessed in about 30 seconds.

3) Use a good anti-virus/spyware/malware program on your computer. Microsoft Security Essentials is a good free program.

4) Always scan all USB sticks/memory drives you attach to your computer with the anti-virus/spyware/malware program.

5) Keep your computer updated with the latest software updates and patches.

6) Protect your privacy when browsing the Internet. Use InPrivate mode and tracking protection for browsing the Internet by following Internet Explorer – Tools – InPrivate Browsing. Firefox has a private browsing mode.

7) Do not open any attachments or click on links in emails you receive from people you do not know.

8) If you are not expecting an email or attachments from people you know, do not open attachments or click on the links. Your friends will never ask you to buy drugs from a Canadian agency. It is always best to just leave these links alone.

9) Do not upload any personal identifying data such as home address, phone numbers and birth dates on social networking websites. Cyber stalking is a reality. Stalkers can come up to you at your home or school.

10) When shopping or banking online look in the address bar—http:// is not secure; https:// or shttp:// is an indication that the website has implemented steps to protect your data.

Of course, there are other important security measures as well.

“Students must also change their passwords periodically, every six months to one year,” Rami Khasawneh, dean of the College of Business, said. “Use more than one password and different ones for financial accounts and email accounts,” Khasawneh added. Websites like staysafeonline.org, a Department of Homeland Security run site, provide additional help for those who may need it.