I recently had to complete an online transaction with an overseas company, and when I hit "pay," a warning popped up on my computer screen: "This information will travel over an unsecured connection, making it very easy for a third party to intercept the data. Are you sure you want to continue?"

Well, if you put it that way, no I'm not sure. But I hit "Yes" anyway. Why? Because I wanted what I was buying, and I figured the warning was just for good measure. What are the chances of someone stealing my credit card information and using it to buy jewelry and TVs to sell on the black market?

Not very high, actually. In fact, only about one in 10 cases of identity theft results from information gleaned with computers, according to a new report published in Criminal Justice Review. The study's authors interviewed 59 inmates of federal prisons currently serving time for identity theft, and they found that the great majority of them used far more prosaic means of nabbing someone else's identity than you probably want to know.

Someone could easily forge your identity by merely stealing your wallet or personal mail, pilfering the necessary information, and opening new accounts in your name. People have even been known to buy gift cards under an assumed - but real - identity (e.g. yours) and sell them on the street for cash.

Heith Copes, who co-authored the study, says that identity theft often has a short-term incentive. In such cases, it's not an elaborate plot to take a victim for everything he's worth, but merely to get enough cash to keep the party going for another day. But some offenders, he acknowledges, steal a person's identity for bigger stakes: to continue a middle-class lifestyle. You could think of such thieves as mini-Madoffs, but most of them will never make the headlines.

I'm relieved to know that, statistically speaking, I'm probably safe from that online transaction. But now I'm scared to leave my apartment.

[Image: Republic of Serbia, Ministry of Interior]