For the 40,000 children and young adults younger than 25 living in Santa Barbara and Goleta, it is never too soon to think about identity protection. A child with a bank account, a teenager with a newly acquired driver’s license, or a college student signing up for that first credit card are all susceptible to the crime of identity theft. Providing them with facts on this crime not only will be beneficial today, but will set a safe precedence for their future.

Common sense will add more preventive measures to this list, and conversations on the topic should be ongoing between a parent and child.

Internet-related identity theft, on the other hand, may be more technological beyond basic common sense. For children younger than 18, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, gives parents control of information collected from their children online.

To educate students directly, Laguna Blanca School offers a class on Internet safety. The Media Literacy class is taken by Laguna eighth-graders to increase their knowledge of media trends as well as encourage safe Web use.

“We’re ahead of the curve in offering this class,” teacher Trish McHale said. “Students need the ability to analyze online media — to access it safely, and one day create it.”

The class also learns about Internet marketing, and students are reminded to use caution when approached by companies asking for private information. McHale mentioned the online source Jo Cool or Jo Fool as a fun, educational tool for students to learn about Internet safety on their own.

E-mail is another method a thief may use to retrieve kids’ and young adults’ personal information. Unfortunately for UCSB students, this type of e-mail is not uncommon.

“We do see occasional scams by which people from off campus — phishing scams they’re called — try to impersonate the university to retrieve the network ID and password (of a student),” explained Matthew Dunham, manager of electronic communication at UCSB. “They often send these e-mails from Yahoo, and make a threat if the student doesn’t give the information.”

Paying attention to the sender’s e-mail address before divulging information can help eliminate this problem. Further, since the California Security Breach Information Act was passed in 2003, UCSB has a duty to protect its students of identity theft.

“This bill provides incentive to provide an extra level of protection,” Dunham affirmed. “For example, if any student’s Social Security number is compromised, the university is required to notify the persons involved.”

Social networking sites such as Facebook.com and MySpace.com, are also employed by identity thieves. As the use of these and other sites become a social norm for children and young adults, cautious communication must also become a norm. Click here for a detailed checklist of how to stay safe on a social networking site. Discussing these and other tips with your child and peers on how to enjoy these sites in a secure manner will help prevent identity fraud.

If you suspect you’re the victim of identity theft, whether it be a case of a stolen credit card or any other personal information is used without permission, Marazita advises you to report the incident(s), in person, at your local police department.  It is the responsibility of the victim to place the fraud alert, and you will need the police department’s case number to do it. At that point, a fraud alert will be placed on your credit history, and this alert is shared with all three credit agencies.

When requested, the Santa Barbara Police Department makes identity theft presentations to groups of city residents.  This can help the public become familiar with the issues surrounding identity theft, and prevention tactics for everyone in their family. For more information, contact Marazita at 805.897.2330.

Safely disposing of unwanted personal documents is another key protection against identity theft. To that end, Community West Bank and the Santa Barbara Police Department — along with sponsors Noozhawk, DocuTeam and ShredRite — will hold a community shred event Tuesday at Community West Bank’s new Santa Barbara branch, 1501 State St. The free event runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Tracy Cooper is a Noozhawk intern.