Not many 2-year-olds are capable of dressing themselves, much less passing bad checks.

But that’s what appeared to be happening when a local man used his son’s Social Security number to run a multistate check scam.

Identity thieves are increasingly targeting children, and it is often family members using their kids’ information to open credit cards and commit other forms of fraud, said Bowling Green Police Officer Barry Pruitt, the department’s crime and intelligence analyst.

&#8220It’s because they have a spotless records, it’s because they are not using their credit and it’s because the crime can go undetected for years,” Pruitt said of the reasons thieves steal children’s identities.

Nationally, only about 5 percent of identity thefts in 2005 targeted children, but the number of such cases has doubled since 2003, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

In that year, the FTC received 6,512 identity-theft complaints involving children younger than 18. In 2005, there were 11,600 such complaints.

&#8220What we find out is that in more cases than not, it’s a family member that is using that information,” Pruitt said.

The number of identity theft complaints filed with the FTC for all age groups has continued to rise, up to 255,500 cases in 2005 from 246,847 in 2004. The most-targeted age group is 18 to 29, with 29 percent of cases, according to the FTC.

&#8220Adult identity theft is out of control, and I think we are going to see more child identity theft,” Pruitt said.

Identity theft of a child can go undetected until the child is old enough to first try to access their credit, only to find it has already been ruined, Pruitt said.

The FTC’s Jay Miller said children also aren’t as careful with their information as adults and are more easily fooled by Internet scams.

&#8220Identity thieves don’t see age as a hurdle,” Miller said. &#8220All they want is as much information about a person as they can get regardless of age. And believe me, they will find a way to use it.”

Of the complaints filed with the FTC, credit-card fraud was the most common form of identity theft, with 26 percent of the complaints. Utilities fraud was next, with 18 percent, bank fraud made up 17 percent and employment fraud 12 percent.

Family members who steal their own children’s identities are often in dire financial straits, Pruitt said.

&#8220They are looking for some kind of way out, so what do they do? They apply for all this additional credit under a child’s information, not thinking about the ramifications down the road,” Pruitt said.

Because not all cases of youth identity theft are committed by family members, the same precautions that adults take apply to kids, Pruitt said.

&#8220A lot of moms carry their kids’ Social Security numbers in their wallet,” he said. &#8220If their wallet is stolen, that’s an open invitation for theft.”

Other precautions include shredding records with personal information and always asking questions before giving anyone a Social Security number, Pruitt said.

&#8220I think we need to be as vigilant guarding their information as we are guarding their physical being,” Pruitt said.

– For more information on identity theft, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s identity theft site at http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft. The Associated Press contributed information to this article.