The recent identity theft case involving Choice Point Inc. follows similar incidents that show the vulnerability of consumers to electronic fraud.

It also underscores the fact that there is little that consumers can do to protect themselves other than checking their credit reports regularly and being careful about to whom they give their personal information.

"We live in an information-rich society," said Beth Givens, director of Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a consumer information and advocacy organization. "If someone is intent on committing identity theft, it's not all that difficult."

She also stated that to obtain personal financial information can be as easy as stealing mail sent by a bank or looking at workplace records of customers and fellow employees. According to the Better Business Bureau, most theft occurs by thieves stealing the information from checkbooks or wallets, with less than 12 percent of identity theft results from computer crimes.

Recent incidents include:

- Close to 45,000 former military and intelligence workers were recently informed that they risk identity theft after thieves stole their names and Social Security numbers from computer records of government contractor Science Application International Corporation. The list of potential victims included some of the nation's top former military and intelligence officials, including former CIA Director John M. Deutch and former Defense Secretary William Perry.

- Earlier last month, computer hackers stole the names, Social Security numbers and other personal information of 30,000 students and staff members at George Mason University.
The information was in a computer server, which was shut down by school officials immediately after discovering the intrusion. Everyone affected was notified. Other incidents similar to this have occurred at the University of California at Berkeley and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

- Also last month, a computer technician involved in what prosecutors said was the biggest identity theft in U.S. history was sentenced in federal court in New York to 14 years in prison. Philip A. Cummings, 35, a former help-desk worker for Teledata Communications Inc., pled guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud and fraud in a scheme that is estimated to cost tens of thousands of victims a total of $50 million to $100 million. His employer provides banks with computerized access to credit-information databases. Cummings was accused of selling passwords and codes for downloading consumer credit reports to a co-conspirator.

- In December 2004, an employee of the Red Cross, along with two other persons, were charged with stealing computerized information on about 40 blood donors in Philadelphia, then using the information to obtain close to $268,000 in cash and merchandise. Red Cross data entry clerk Danielle Baker and her accomplices are accused of using names, Social Security numbers, places of employment and other information in order to obtain credit, cash counterfeit checks and acquire bank loans under assumed names. Following this incident, a number of Philadelphia employers canceled their blood drives, which cost the Red Cross $455,000 and forced it to purchase blood from other parts of the country.

- In November 2004, thieves stole computers from an Atlanta Wells Fargo & Co. office that contained the account information on thousands mortgage and student loan customers. The financial services company has about 5.8 million mortgage and student loan customers. This was the third time in a year that computers containing personal data of Wells Fargo customers were stolen. The auditing firm Deloitte & Touche LLP found that 83% of the nation's financial institutions acknowledged their computer systems had been hit in the past year, up from 39% the previous year.

Identity theft tops the list of consumer complaints, according to the most recent Federal Trade Commission report on consumer concerns. Last year, over 39%, or 246,000 of all complaints, involved identity theft. At the same time, consumers and businesses are trying hard to protect their credit information. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the percentage of identity theft complaints which involve thieves trying to open credit accounts with stolen information dropped from 24% in 2002 to 17% in 2004.

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse recommended that consumers should check their credit reports at least once a year from the any of the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian or Trans Union, to search for evidence of fraudulent transactions.

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