Renata Galvão was paying off $400,000 (£295,000) in debts that weren’t hers for most of her early adult life after her identity was stolen when she was just six years old. A family member had convinced her mother to authorise the use of Renata’s identity at the time.
“I do not blame her for a second, she was coerced and told information that was not true. I’m choosing to speak up now, so no one else has to go through what I did,” She said as part of LSEG Risk Intelligence’s One in Fifty documentary.
Her story now reflects a worrying trend: children are increasingly targeted by fraudsters creating synthetic identities, leaving damage that often remains undetected for years. She added: “I was only six years old when my identity was stolen and for years, I had no idea. By the time I started work, it was already too late.”
When she was still in primary school, Renata’s identity was used to create companies and when they collapsed, she was left with the debts as the ‘legal owner’. She recalled debt collectors coming to her home throughout her childhood and being shocked to find their ‘debtor’ was just a young girl.
Over $400,000 (£295,000) racked up in her debt portfolio, tanking Renata’s credit rating and damaging her finances. But it was only when she turned 18 that all the consequences came raining down.
She shared: “When I turned 18, was working, opened a bank account and bought a car, everything that happened during my childhood came crashing down on me all of a sudden. I now had a financial life, and those things could be taken away from me. They froze my assets and took my savings to pay off the debts.”
For most child identity theft victims, the only way to clear their names is by pressing charges, but this wasn’t an option for Renata as her mother would also face the consequences due to her involvement, despite also being a victim in the situation. Instead, Renata and her mother diligently worked to pay off the debt by the time she was 28.
Tragically, an LSEG Risk Intelligence report showed Renata’s situation is not new, nor is it rare, as child identity theft is actually on the rise. Identity theft itself has risen 13% since last March and the US Federal Trade Commission found child identity theft has skyrocketed by 40% between 2021 and 2024.
To highlight the devastating impact, Renata is part of its new documentary, One in Fifty, to raise awareness among customers and financial institutions. The title reflects the number of children in the US falling victim to the crime.
Now a risk and compliance professional at LSEG, Renata added: “Globally, there are entire systems in place to protect children from physical or sexual abuse from a family member. But no such system exists for protecting children from financial abuse. No one should have a say in my financial life other than myself.”
David White, Global Head of Product & Data, LSEG Risk Intelligence, warned: “Since Renata’s ordeal over twenty years ago, fraudsters have become more sophisticated, using AI and social engineering to target the most vulnerable.
“Children are being targeted because they know our systems weren’t designed to spot them. This has to change. No one organisation can fix this alone – it’s going to take the entire industry working together to protect the most vulnerable among us.”
LSEG Risk Intelligence are urging financial institutions to implement safeguards to protect customers from devastating situations of identity theft and fraud through their new report. The suggestions include implementing checks to verify a person’s age and identity as well as multi-factor authentication for people who don’t have credit history.
The report also notes that 25% of children will have their identity stolen, at an average age of just eight, and 73% of victims know the perpetrator. The majority of these victims face financial fraud being lodged against them, but a small percentage are also left with a criminal record for offences they didn’t commit.
