The Costco Connection

84 ;e Costco Connection JUNE 2014 inside costco

KEEPING AN EYE on your teen’s credit may be just as important as keeping an eye on your own credit these days.

“As alarming and surprising as it may seem, teens are considered by many identity thieves to be the ultimate targets, because their relatively pristine Social Security numbers aren’t yet attached to a credit report,” says Bernie Deckys, Costco Services manager.

Costco has partnered with Identity Guard®
to provide identity protection for members
and their children. Members who enroll in
Identity Guard Total Protection are eligible to
add their children to the account through kID
Sure, Identity Guard’s child identity monitor-
ing service, Bernie says. Executive members
pay $9.99 a month and can add up to five chil-
dren on their account for $4.99 a month, while
Gold Star and Business members pay $13.49 a
month and can add up to five children on their
account for $5.99 a month.

According to a 2014 Javelin Strategy &
Research study, in 2013 identity fraud
increased for the second consecutive year,
affecting more than 13 million U.S. adults and
making identity theft one of the fastest-grow-
ing crimes in America. In addition, the
research and strategy consulting company
concluded in 2012, one in 40 U.S. households
with children under the age of 18 have expe-
rienced child identity fraud.

The Identity Guard service helps protect members and their children by alerting them to issues with their personal information and provides experienced support from victim assistance specialists to assist in an identity theft crisis, according to Kyla Brooks, senior marketing manager at Intersections Inc., the Identity Guard provider.

“By monitoring your accounts and making a point of correcting errors as soon as you notice them, you can help keep the repercussions substantially lower if you ever do become a victim,” Brooks says.

For more information, go to Costco.com, click “Services,” then “Identity Protection.” Or, call toll-free 1-866-818-0874.

—Christina Guerrero

ID protection for teens

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