Seventeen-year-old Randy Waldron, Jr., was shocked when he applied for his first credit card and was denied. He was even more shocked by the reason: He failed to repay thousands of dollars in debt. Waldron's identity had been stolen by his father, who left when Randy was learning to walk. From 1982 to 1999, Randy Waldron, Sr., used his son's Social Security number to obtain credit from various merchants and lenders, then racked up tens of thousands of dollars in debts. He declared bankruptcy in his son's name, which resulted in default judgments against the younger Waldron. It has taken Randy Jr., now a 24-year-old flight attendant, years to untangle the mess. Waldron isn't alone. Identity theft is this country's fastest-growing crime -- and, increasingly, ID thieves are targeting children. Their clean credit and absence of criminal histories make them ideal victims.     Linda Foley, co-executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center inprefix = st1 /San Diego, estimates that at least 400,000 children had their identities stolen in 2005, more than double the number in 2003. Waldron's case is typical: The resource center estimates that two-thirds of child ID thefts are committed by family members.     Some dishonest persons use children's names and Social Security numbers to ring up massive debts; others use children's identities in place of their own when caught committing other crimes; still others sell identification information on the black market to illegal immigrants, fellow criminals or even terrorists. The theft brings its victims enormous financial and emotional trauma, in part because the identity abuse often goes undetected for years.     Dealing with child identity theft after it happens is extremely difficult. Laws in many states are insufficient to handle the crime's complexity, and financial institutions are often less than helpful. Randy Waldron, Jr., has worked tirelessly for eight years to straighten out his credit record, and he continues to deal with the fallout. "It's been a very long and arduous battle," he says. "Recovering my identity was really the   hardest part. I think a lot of victims assume the problem will go away." Why do children easily become the targets of identity theft?
Because they cannot read or write at a young age. Because they have empty credit and criminal records. Because they are too young to protect themselves. Because identity theft can't be found in time.