Cathy Perfect-Kern Valley Sun

Valley residents gathered at the Elks Lodge in Wofford Heights on Thursday for an identity theft seminar presented by Bob Bibby, manager of the Westamerica Bank branches in the valley.

Bibby sought to dispel many of the misconceptions the public has about identity theft. Many people fear conducting business on the Internet, but as Bibby pointed out, most identity thefts occur during offline transaction.

Janice and Rich Garcia of Kernville talk with other attendees at Thursday’s ID theft seminar held at the Elks Lodge in Wofford Heights.

“Unscrupulous merchants (in stores) can copy the magnetic strip on the back of your card, then make a counterfeit card after you've left,” Bibby warned. This type of identity theft happens about 79 percent of the time, while online identity thefts account for the remaining 11 percent.

Janice and Rich Garcia of Kernville can vouch for that. “We were on a mission trip in Mexico and someone broke into our car,” Janice Garcia said. “That's what they wanted. That's when we went to see Bob (Bibby). It's been three weeks and I'm finally getting a moment of silence,” she said.

About 25 people attended the free seminar. They heard such statistics as the fact that California was the number one state last year for identity theft, with 45,175 reports, according to the FTC. And most people apparently don't report the crime.

It's best to shred anything going out in the trash that has ID numbers, because that's what thieves look for.

Prescriptions received by mail can be diverted to another address by an identity thief, as well, so it's important to protect your medical information as well.