A one-time victim of identity theft, I'm all too familiar with the residual headaches of losing control of your critical personal information. So I pay particular attention anytime a new scam surfaces -- like the recent debit-card skimming scheme at Michael's Stores, a national chain of specialty shops.A one-time victim of identity theft, I'm all too familiar with the residual headaches of losing control of your critical personal information. So I pay particular attention anytime a new scam surfaces -- like the recent debit-card skimming scheme at Michael's Stores, a national chain of specialty shops.

OK. Skimming isn't actually new. It's been around for a few years. But until now it's mostly been practiced at gas stations and remote ATMs. Today, it's everywhere and growing.

Skimming has become the identity theft of choice for many crooks. You have a one-in-five chance of being a victim; losses will total about $1 billion this year. Other forms of identity theft include dumpster diving, phishing and pretexting. But skimming generates far quicker and richer rewards for perps, who essentially gain immediate access to cardholder bank accounts.

At Michael's Stores, thieves managed to hack the debit-processing equipment at 80 locations in 20 states. They were able to instantly duplicate customers' cards and begin making cash withdrawals from the associated bank accounts, $500 at a time.

How did they do it? The crooks tampered with debit-card processing equipment at the point of sale, inserting a tiny device into the store equipment that enabled them to read the magical magnetic strip on the debit card as it was swiped. Evidently, a pinhole camera then recorded customers as they entered their PIN.

This is a frightfully difficult crime to defend against. Technology has advanced to where miniscule cameras and card reading devices are virtually undetectable. Some devices allow criminals to download the information stored on skimming devices remotely without even having to retrieve the device. You might consider just using a credit card, which has greater protections.

Young or old, if you are going to use a debit card you need to take precautions. Here's how: