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COLUMBIA (WACH) - Parents do their best to make sure their children are safe in every way, but there is a new threat many may not be aware of.

Toddler's identities are being stolen at an increasing rate.

According to the AllClear ID 2012 Child Identity Theft Report, children under five years old are the fastest growing victims of identity theft with a 105 percent increase since last year.

Young children have become a popular target for criminals because they "present a clean slate." Their identities are not tied to credit cards, student loans, or other lines of credit, which means loss can go undetected for years, according to the report.

Out of 2,875 children included in the report, 10.7 percent had their Social Security numbers linked to various accounts including loans, driver's licenses, and property assessments.

The report found that a child's Social Security number appeared in credit bureau records indicating illegal use 6,273 times, and there were 2,352 cases where a child's Social Security number appeared in utility service records.

The percentage of children in the report whose identity was stolen was 35 times higher than adults in the same population. Twenty-six percent of identity theft victims included in the report were age six to 10 years old.

According to AllClear ID, criminals are able to steal a child's identity by tying a different name and date of birth to the child's Social Security number. They recommend not sharing any Social Security number unnecessarily along with shredding documents and getting anti-virus software updates to help increase identity theft protection.

AllClear ID is a company that offers basic identity theft protection. Their website features a child identity theft scan so parents can find out if their child's Social Security  number has been compromised.

The company created a video to explain how child identity theft happens, and the best ways to protect children from the threat.