The news has been full of stories about identity theft and data breaches. But here's a lesser-known fact…Children's personal information may actually be more vulnerable than adults. According to one National Public Radio article, the rate of identity theft for children was 51 times higher than that of adults.
Why is children's identity more vulnerable?
A few reasons... most people don't check their identity score or report until they need to. So children's information often goes unchecked until their applying for a student or car loan or a first credit card, leaving thieves plenty of time to use a victim's information to rack up debt.
And because of this lack of credit history, kids credit reports are likely to arrive in thieves' hands clean and blemish-free, unlike many adults.
If you wait until your kids are 18 to check credit history, then you could be leaving the door open to a mountain of fraud - which can take a substantial amount of time and money to clean up.
IDProtect can help keep your family's information safer.
At WaFd Bank, we've partnered with Econocheck to provide IDProtectR, aimed at helping to keep our clients and their families' information more secure. Unlike other identity protection service,IDProtectR is a credit monitoring AND resolution service, not just for you, but for your entire family too.(Eligible family members include spouse, persons qualifying as domestic partner, and children under 25 years of age and parent(s) of the account holder who are residents of the same household.)
With IDProtectR, you'll receive total monitoring for your name, Social Security number and other personal information, they'll alert you if they find something unusual AND they'll work with you throughout the resolution service.
IDProtectR will even reimburse you for expenses associated with restoring your identity - up to $10,000.
Are you protecting your family's information?
IDProtectR is a standard feature of our Green Rewards and Stellar Plus Checking account. To enroll and start protecting your family, visit MyWaFdWins.com.
Can't find your activation code? Just let us know! Contact your local branch or call us 800-324-9375 or email info@wafd.com.
If you're not yet a Green Rewards and Stellar Plus Checking client, you can easily apply online.
For product disclosures and more information about IDProtect and other checking rewards, please visit My WaFd Wins. IDProtectR is not insured by FDIC or any Federal Government Agency; not a deposit of or guaranteed by the bank or any bank affiliate. Registration/enrollment required at MyWaFdWins.com.
Green Rewards and Checking requires $25 deposit to open and costs $6 a month.
Stellar Plus Checking requires $25 deposit to open and costs $0-8 a month (depending on your balance).
Visit our
Checking page for more information on account requirements.