ReclaimMyID

For those who manage someone else’s money, there is a lot of responsibility. The person who’s money you are managing has entrusted you with one of the most important parts of their lives. Learning how to avoid identity theft for financial caregivers is one of the main priorities. Ensuring the financial well being of your loved one includes protecting their identity and making sure their information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Managing Someone Else’s Money And Protecting Their Identity

Thanks to a new law passed by congress, which went into effect on September 21, 2018, protecting the identity of your loved one became a bit easier. The law allows some financial caregivers to request a credit freeze on their loved one’s behalf. This will make it much more difficult for criminals to open lines of credit using their information.

Oftentimes when someone has a financial caregiver it is because they are unable to manage their finances on their own. According to the new law, a “Protected Consumer” is one who is incapacitated, a child under the age of 16 or someone with an appointed guardian or conservator. If you are the financial caregiver for a protected consumer, you must provide proof of authority to the credit bureaus in order to act on their behalf. Proof of authority is one of the following:

A court order (indicating you as conservator or guardian)
Power of attorney

If you have proof of authority and wish to request a credit freeze on behalf of a loved one, you’ll want to request the freeze with each of the three major credit bureaus. The following links lead to the credit freeze portion of each bureau’s website:

Equifax

TransUnion

Experian

With great responsibility comes great pride. Knowing how to avoid identity theft for financial caregivers means knowing that you are keeping your loved one’s identity safe.