Safe Online?

USA Today has a story reporting, "most ID theft takes place offline". The story interested me because several family members and friends express concerns about making online transactions... Seems you maybe safer online then one might be lead to believe, of course, you must use common sense.

The survey found:
• Computer crimes accounted for 11.6% of identity theft in 2004, vs. 68% from paper sources
• The average loss for online identity theft was $551, vs. $4,543 from paper.
• Family members, friends and neighbors make up half of all known identity thieves.

"Computer theft is way down the list," says James Van Dyke of Javelin Strategy in Pleasanton, Calif. Doing financial transactions via computer worries Americans, he says, because "It's the great unknown. But it's not where your primary risk from fraud is."