Attention holiday shoppers: Protect your identity

No one knows exactly how many people have their personal information stolen each year, but government statistics suggest that number may hit 8 million or more. Whether through physical theft of forms of identification, or through electronic means online, or at at stores where cards are swiped for purchases, thieves have myriad ways to obtain your personal information.

Take that woman behind you at the mall ATM. She may be standing close to let the crowds pass by, but she also may be trying to sneak a peek at your PIN number. And the e-mail you receive asking you to "verify" your credit card information is probably not from the site where you just purchased your nephew's present, but from a scammer who tapped into the retailer's site.

Steven Domeniko, chief executive of IdentityTruth, an identity protection service based in Westborough, Mass., said the recession is likely to contribute to a rise in ID theft. "People are getting more creative in defrauding other people," he said.

One thing that concerns Domeniko is that much of the focus on ID theft centers on credit card use, but illegal ATM transactions are a large and growing problem. "People need to be more aware that they're susceptible and they can lose a lot more," he said, noting that thieves who access bank accounts can drain them before someone knows they're a victim. He advised against using freestanding kiosk ATMs and instead using bank ATMs equipped with security cameras.

What's more, when making online purchases look for symbols that appear during checkout to let you know the site is secure. Among the common markers are the "padlock" symbol or the letter "i" after the "http" on a Web address. Issued by Verisign and other companies, these symbols let you know that that the Web site has a so-called SSL certificate, and the information you're entering is encrypted. Some Web merchants may also have an extended validation SSL certificate, which triggers some versions of Internet Explorer and other browsers to display a green address bar for "safe" purchases. None of these products is foolproof, however, so shoppers still need to pay attention to other aspects of the site.

Here are some other steps you can take to protect your identity when shopping during the holidays:

1. Do not use debit cards. Why? Because credit card companies provide better coverage in case of theft, limiting a card holder's liability to $50. Many bank debit cards have no liability limits and if a thief gets access to an account, he could clean it out before the victim even knows there's a problem.