The Calaveras County Sheriff's Office has been receiving reports of increased attempts to obtain citizens' credit card information for fraudulent purposes.

Many residents throughout the county have recently received phone calls by individuals posing as employees of credit card companies or financial institutions. These callers ask that people "verify" their credit card information. The sheriff's office warns that credit card companies and financial institutions do not initiate calls or e-mails requesting customers to "update" or "verify" credit card information.

Citizens are advised to note the caller ID number and ask for the person's name and employee number. Next, end the conversation and phone the credit card issuer's 800 number to report the attempted gain of information to the financial institution.

In order to help prevent credit card fraud, the sheriff's office is also providing the following list of precautions:

- Do business only with companies you know. Do not give out your credit card number to make a purchase or reservation unless you initiated the transaction.

- Shop only at secure Web sites that use encryption software to transfer data from your computer to the merchant and that have strong privacy and security policies.

- Never give your credit cards to someone else to use on your behalf. Watch your credit card after giving it to store clerks to protect against extra imprints being made.

- Destroy any carbons. Do not discard into a trash container at the purchase counter.

- If you receive pre-approved credit card offers in the mail, do not discard them without shredding them first.

- If you are expecting new credit cards in the mail and they do not arrive, or you do not receive your statement at the expected time, call the credit card issuer immediately.

- Review monthly credit card bills and yearly credit reports carefully. If you discover purchases you did not make, contact the credit card company to file a dispute claim and close the account.

"We would concur with the tips they are giving," said Amador County Undersheriff Jim Wegner. "All are good practices, however complacency and convenience often tend to lead people to be less careful than they should, resulting in identity theft. But even people that do everything right ... still can be victimized."

Report any irregularities to the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, www.equifax.com; Experian, www.experian.com; and Trans Union, www.transunion.com.