ATLANTA -- Identity theft is a growing crime in Georgia and the nation, and experts say children are at risk of being victimized, too.

One local infant can attest to that.

On the Net Identity Theft Resource Center Clark Howard wsbtv.com Archive Clark Howard.com

Meet Wyatt McVay

When parent Trina McVay went to the bank to open a savings account that would serve as a nest egg for her newborn son, Wyatt, she was surprised by what she was told.

"They asked for his Social Security Number," she recalled. "But there was activity on his number and he was coming up as being fraudulent."

She said she was told that the boy, who was just 2 months old at the time, already had black marks on his credit record for allegedly writing bad checks.

"I was stunned," she said. "I was shocked."

Investigators say children are the latest targets of identity thieves. More than 500,000 youngsters have been victimized by the crime, according to statistics from the Federal Trade Commission.

Betsy Broder, a spokeswoman for the FTC, said the agency is alarmed by the growing crime.

"We're concerned about identity theft against children, infants (or) anyone," she said. "No one is immune from this serious crime."

She said children routinely receive Social Security Numbers at birth after parents give the information so that numbers can be assigned.

"If you provide that information in a doctor's office or in the dentist's office, someone could have access to it and misuse it," Broder said. "There could be vulnerability in a school."

Experts say the crime can go undetected for years. Michelle Thibodeaux's son, James, did not learn that he had been victimized by someone who stole his identity until he tried to obtain a driver's license.

"They told us he couldn't get his learner's permit because he had already had a license," she recalled.

The news for the family got worse. The teen received a letter from the state Department of Revenue saying he owed $5,000 in back child support.

"He was 16 years old at the time and they claimed he was the father of a 12-year-old boy," Thibodeaux said, adding that the unknown thief used her son's name for over 10 years.

The family spent a lot of time trying to repair the damage.

"We had to change (James') Social Security Number and start over again," she said.

Experts say there are warning signs to look for to determine if a child's identity has been stolen, including the receipt of pre-approved credit offers addressed to the child or telemarketing calls in which the caller asks for the child by name.

If that happens, parents should immediately request a copy of the child's credit report from the major credit bureaus. A report should not exist unless someone has stolen the child's identity and is using it.