Many people may believe they are more susceptible by way of the Internet, but only about half of the cases of identity theft involved the World Wide Web and/or other technological devices (credit-card encoders, for example), according to the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection.

Nontechnological means are used in the other attempts to steal someone’s identity. The criminal simply might redirect your mail by filling out a change of address card at the post office. Or he – because it’s most likely a male – will make off with your mail from your mailbox or go through your trash to find discarded documents that contain information he can use to open up credit card accounts. In 20 percent of the nontechnological cases, theft of mail, a change of address card or Dumpster diving were the methods of theft.

The center, with a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, reviewed 517 closed U.S. Secret Service cases that took place between 2000 and 2006.

This is the first time the Secret Service has allowed the review of its closed case files on identity theft and fraud.

“These findings shed new light on how identity theft-related crimes take place, what motivates the perpetrators, and who is being victimized, and dispels some common myths about identity theft,” said Gary Gordon, founder and executive director of the center.

The research center divided its findings into three categories: the crime, the victims, and the offenders.

Identity thieves are young. In 42.5 percent of cases, the offenders were between the ages of 25 and 34; 18.5 percent were between 18 and 24. Only 6 percent were older than 50.

The results show that two-thirds of the identity thieves were male. Twenty-four percent of the offenders were born outside of the United States.

It’s also important to know how this crime is committed. In 274 of the Secret Service cases, the center was able to pinpoint how the thief obtained a person’s information. A business – service, retail, financial industry or a corporation – was the point of compromise 50 percent of the time.

A company’s database was the source of identity information in a third of the cases. In about 44 percent of the cases, information or documents were stolen from a company.

You still need to watch your peeps – as in relatives and friends – people who you should be able to trust. A family member or friend was the thief in 16 percent of the 274 cases.

One-third of the time, thieves got their information from financial industry organizations: banks, credit unions and credit card companies.

According to the case analysis, there was a one-in-three chance that victimization was a result of the work of an insider.

What I learned from this report was this: You can’t trust any business or anybody, even family members. Despite all the claims of privacy, encryption technology and security firewalls, you’ve got to be your own information bodyguard.