Find out whether your child has a credit file at all

    Children should have no credit file. If one exists, it's almost certainly fraud.

    JDCS
    By Jordan Dickson · Reviewed by CSG Security Engineers

    Updated June 2026 · 1 min read

    Children's identities are valuable to fraudsters because the theft can go undetected for years — sometimes only discovered when the child applies for their first loan or job.

    Who can have a child's file?

    Legitimately, almost no one. Some teens who've been added as authorised users on a parent's card may have a thin file. Anything else is suspicious.

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    Written by

    Jordan Dickson

    Founder, CyberSecurityGuides

    Founder of CyberSecurityGuides, writing practical, jargon-free guides that help everyday people recover from and protect against online attacks.

    Reviewed by CSG Security Engineers

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