An Associated Press story describes the plight of people whose identities have been stolen by their own parents. Strapped for cash, some desparate parents have filled out credit card applications in the names of their children. "It started with my summer jobs — checks my dad was supposed to deposit but never did," said one victim. The FTC says that about 6% of the 86,000 cases of identity theft it handles each year involve theft by a family member.
The scam isn't wholly new -- just think of Santos L. Halper -- but it does put an even more tragic spin on the plight of victims of identity theft. If borrowing against the future is an American obsession, stealing your children's credit ratings is a particular severe form. Even now, someone is probably scheming to figure out a way to borrow against the earnings of as-yet-unborn children.