One reason we recommend contacting the credit bureaus directly to receive copies of your credit reports is because there are numerous scam artists on the loose who are "phishing" or "carding"-in plain English, looking for credit card information.

One way they do this is by setting up Internet Web sites. There, the scam artists offer cheap or free access to your credit reports as a way to lure you into giving them your information.

What are they phishing for? Anything that can help them pretend to be you. They want your:

• credit card numbers;
• bank account information
• Social Security number;
• passwords; and
• other sensitive information.

ID thieves are happy when they get several of these items at once. When they have enough pieces of information, they create an alternate version of you to apply for credit and commit other frauds.

If you've received an offer to provide inexpensive credit reports or credit repair services, the Federal Trade Commission offers the following tips to avoid getting scammed:

• Immediately leave any Web site that asks for personal information that's not relevant to your credit report, such as a personal identification number (PIN) for your bank account, the three-digit code on the back of your credit card or your passport number.
• Make sure the site is secure. Look for the little lock icon on your browser's status bar, as well as "https" as the start of the site address on any pages where you need to fill out a form. Most URLs start with "http"; the "s" tells you the site is secure.
• Determine if the company has a working telephone number and a legitimate street address. Such Internet sites as www.switchboard.com will enable you to find the company's address, and reverse lookup search engines like www.anywho.com will help you with phone numbers.
• Contact the company by phone or go to the Internet site directly, rather than clicking on a link in an e-mail.
• Check the sender's e-mail address. If it looks unusual or if it ends in .ru or .de instead of .com, be suspicious.
• Check the e-mail and Internet site for spelling errors and bad grammar, as well as other mistakes, like a telephone area code and an address that don't match. These often are a tip-off that something's not right.
• Double check the Internet site address to ensure it's the correct spelling of a company. Some scammers create sites with names that are just a little off.
• Rather than just clicking a link, use the URL that's part of the sender's address (for joe@example.com, go to www.example.com). If it redirects you to a different site, don't go any further.
• Visit http://www.networksolutions.com/ or one of the other domain name providers and do a "Whois" search to find out who owns the site in question.

If you encounter any suspicious activity, have any unauthorized charges on your credit card or never receive the credit report you requested, you'll want to contact the FTC at http://www.ftc.gov/ and contact the U.S. Secret Service.

You'll find the local Secret Service office listed in your phone book.