The new school year is just around the corner and many people may be starting to plan back-to-school shopping trips.

Identity theft can happen to anyone at any time. According to Credit.com, each year about 500,000 children become victims of identity theft. They can be targeted because they have clean credit scores and dormant social security numbers.

When making a lot of purchases in a short period of time, it is important to check bank statements and activity to see if there is any suspicious activity. 

Before any school paperwork or sports team sign-ups are filled out that include your child’s social security number, find out how the organization will share that information. Often times, social security numbers are not even needed for those types of forms.

For college students who share dorm rooms, it is smart to have strong passwords on computers to protect personal information.

In 2012, more than 16 million people were victim to identity theft, according to statistics by the Bureau of Justice.