Picture this. While surfing the Internet, you come across an offer by a national lending institution for a major credit card at a rockbottom interest rate. It’s an offer that’s too good to pass up, so you follow the instructions, complete the application and wait.

Experts agree that it’s always best to be cautious when sharing personal information, especially over the internet. Tribune Photo By Ira Cohen

A mere 30 minutes later you’re "approved." Your credit information has been processed and approved. And it has very likely been pirated by computer bandits dubbed "Identity Thieves."

The 1990s spawned a new generation of crooks whose stock in trade are your everyday transactions.

In the course of any day, you may write a check at the supermarket, rent a car, mail your tax returns, apply for a credit card, make personal calls on your cell phone, order new checks, or charge tickets to a ballgame.

Each of these transactions require that you share personal information: your bank and credit card numbers, Social Security number, your income – and your name, address and phone number. And while you’re sharing information through legitimate transactions, an identity thief may be looking over your shoulder, stealing your personal information – and identity.

Think it can’t happen to you? Think again, experts say, because despite your best efforts to manage your personal information to keep it confidential, identity thieves are always one step ahead of you. They use a variety of methods to gain access to your personal information, including:

• Stealing wallets and purses containing your identification and credit and bank cards.

• Stealing your mail, including your bank and credit card statements, pre-approved credit offers, telephone calling cards and tax information.

• Completing a "change of address form" to divert your mail to another location.

• Rummaging through your trash, or the trash of businesses, for personal data in a practice known as "dumpster diving."

• Fraudulently obtain your credit report by posing as a landlord, employer or someone else who may have a legitimate need for – and a legal right to – the information.

• Getting your business or personal records at work.

• Finding personal information in your home.

• Using personal information you share on the Internet.

• Buying your personal information from "inside" sources. For example, an identity thief may pay a store employee for information about you that appears on an application for goods, services or credit.

Likewise, the bandits employ a variety of fraudulent tactics as they use your information and ruin your reputation.

They call your credit card issuer and, pretending to be you, ask to change the mailing address on your credit card account. The impostor then runs up charges on your account. Because your bills are being sent to the new address, it may take some time before you realize there’s a problem.

They open a new credit card account, using your name, date of birth and SSN. When they use the credit card and don’t pay the bills, the delinquent account is reported on your credit report.

They establish phone or wireless service in your name.

They open a bank account in your name and write bad checks on that account.

They file for bankruptcy under your name to avoid paying debts they’ve incurred under your name or to avoid eviction.

They counterfeit checks or debit cards and drain your bank account.

They buy cars by taking out auto loans in your name.

How can you minimize the risk you take by using credit cards, etc.?

Experts suggest that you follow a "pattern of protection," employing the following measures:

• Before you reveal any personally identifying information, find out how it will be used and whether it will be shared with others. Ask if you have a choice about the use of your information: can you choose to have it kept confidential?

• Pay attention to your billing cycles. Follow up with creditors if your bills don’t arrive on time. A missing credit card bill could mean an identity thief has taken over your credit card account and changed your billing address to cover his tracks.

• Guard your mail from theft. Deposit outgoing mail in post office collection boxes or at your local post office. Promptly remove mail from your mailbox after it has been delivered.

• Put passwords on your credit card, bank and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information like your mother’s maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your SSN or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers.

Have you ever wondered what becomes of personal information you give to credit card providers, banks, department stores, etc.?

Don’t think for a moment that the information you provide always stays with the creditor you gave it to.

True, experts say, some lending institutions and marketers try to keep a lid on personal information provided by customers. But just as often that data is used to create a "profile" of you and your financial situation. In many cases, it is shared with other "lenders" who then solicit or harass you by mail, experts say.

How can you use the law to protect your personal information?

Experts say there are a number of agencies and private companies that advise on ways for you to "opt out" of sharing your information – knowingly or unknowingly – with lenders. Consider the following:

• If you receive pre-screened credit card offers in the mail (namely those based upon your credit data), but don’t tear them up after you decide you don’t want to accept the offer, identity thieves may retrieve the offers for their own use without your knowledge.

• Minimize the identification information and the number of cards you carry to what you’ll actually need.

• Do not give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the Internet unless you have initiated the contact or know who you’re dealing with. Identity thieves may pose as representatives of banks, Internet service providers and even government agencies to get you to reveal your SSN, mother’s maiden name, financial account numbers and other identifying information. Legitimate organizations with whom you do business have the information they need and will not ask for it.

• Keep items with personal information in a safe place. To thwart an identity thief, who may pick through your trash to capture your personal information, tear or shred your charge receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, bank checks and statements that you are discarding, expired charge cards and credit offers you get in the mail.

To opt out of receiving pre-screened credit card offers, call 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688). The three major credit bureaus use the same toll-free number to let consumers choose not to receive pre-screened credit offers.

It’s no secret that despite your best efforts, you may fall victim to identity thieves.

If you realize that your information has been hijacked, contact local police immediately, as well as the Economic Fraud Unit at your local district attorney’s office.

Contact the fraud department of each of the three major credit bureaus. Tell them that you’re an identity theft victim. Request that a "fraud alert" be placed in your file, as well as a victim’s statement asking that creditors call you before opening any new accounts or changing your existing accounts. This can help prevent an identity thief from opening additional accounts in your name.

At the same time, ask the credit bureaus for copies of your credit reports. Credit bureaus must give you a free copy of your report if your report is inaccurate because of fraud. Review your reports carefully to make sure no additional fraudulent accounts have been opened in your name or unauthorized charges made to your existing accounts. Also, check the section of your report that lists "inquiries." Where "inquiries" appear from the company that opened the fraudulent account, request that these "inquiries" be removed from your report. In a few months, order new copies of your reports to verify your corrections and changes, and to make sure no new fraudulent activity has occurred.

Contact the creditors for any accounts that have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.

Creditors can include credit card companies, phone companies and other utilities, and banks and other lenders. Ask to speak with someone in the security or fraud department of each creditor, and follow up with a letter. It’s particularly important to notify credit card companies in writing because that’s the consumer protection procedure the law spells out for resolving errors on credit card billing statements. Immediately close accounts that have been tampered with and open new ones with new PINs (personal identification numbers) and passwords. Here again, avoid using easily available information like your mother’s maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your SSN or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers.

If you’ve been a victim of identity theft, file a complaint with the FTC by contacting the FTC’s Identity Theft Hotline by telephone: toll-free 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338); TDD: 202-326-2502; by mail: Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20580; or online: www.consumer.gov/idtheft

Other agencies and organizations also are working to combat identity theft. If specific institutions and companies are not being responsive to your questions and complaints, you also may want to contact the government agencies with jurisdiction over those companies.