Family opened credit cards in my name when I was a minor
Identity theft by family members during childhood results in maxed-out debt discovered years later when trying to secure adult loans or checking credit scores. This hidden debt damages adult financial standing before the victim even enters the workforce, leaving them to untangle fraudulent accounts opened while they were children.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1freezing credit with the major bureaus
- 2disputing the accounts directly with credit bureaus and lenders
- 3filing identity theft reports and police reports against family members
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“turns out she has a 7k maxed credit card from 2014 (she would have been 8 years old) that hasn’t been touched.”source ↗
“Lots of terrible advice in the comments. This happened to me, I was 10 and my mom opened credit cards in my name.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 6How do I dispute a bunch of incorrect charges at once?
- 2How did my credit card get hacked while traveling?
- 5Seller gave me a fake tracking number with a thank you card
- 7Am I responsible for my deceased parent's hidden debt?
- 18How to stop fraudulent chargebacks on online stores
- 3What to do when mailed checks are stolen and cashed