The phone rang, I picked it up.

"Hello Mr. Anthony, this is Debbie calling from Epiphany Worldwide Rewards Center and I have a no-cost offer for you...we'll be sending a large package out to you soon and I just need to verify the last four digits of your credit card number."

Ding, ding, ding...the alarm bells went off in my head. I said, "I'm not comfortable giving out personal information like this."

Debbie cut me off, "Sir, we just need to verify your address and if your last four digits are 4298, then we can send your package out right away."

I hung up.

It was bad enough that they have my phone number, but when they repeat back my credit card numbers, I was shocked.

I learned later that this attempt to get my card number is a form of credit card fraud called "phishing."

Amazingly, the next day when I picked up the phone, it was another caller with a similar request, but with a different company name. This time I simply put the receiver back in the cradle without saying a word.

In a former lifetime, I used to be a telemarketer.

I don't have a problem with people who try to make a living by calling other people.

Some telemarketing is done by Law Enforcement, by individuals who cannot do any physical work or commute, or by other special causes like charitable organizations.

But the problem of identity theft is vast and growing, and even though most credit card companies have fifty dollar consumer responsibility limits, with some offering zero responsibility, in its most advanced form identity theft and credit fraud can cause wide-ranging, long-term problems.

Identity thieves can use your personal information to take over your savings or checking accounts or open new ones, and these damages do not have limits.

They may even use your good credit to get a job, take out a car loan, or rent an apartment.

When "Debbie" called, I made sure that I wrote down the name of the company she mentioned.

After I hung up, I googled it and found a posting on a credit card fraud watchdog website by someone who had experienced the same questionable, free offer and who wrote the following:

"A man called and said he had $600 in coupons for me and needed to verify my address. I told him I wasn't interested and he hung up. I did some digging and found that this company is a fraud, known as Epiphany Worldwide LLC. They are located in St. Petersburg. My ex works there and I recognized the number, the name of the company, and the script she uses to call people. This company is a fraud."

According to this poster, the company is also known as:

B Grouper Marketing Inc

5621 Park Street North

Saint Petersburg, FL 33709-6310

Phone: (727) 549-2272

Another poster on this Credit fraud watchdog site said that they had received similar calls from this same company and they listed the Florida Attorney General's office number, (850-245-0150) as well as the FCC (877-382-4357). Now this is a step in the right direction.

Calling the cops on this company might put a crimp in their operation for a while, but there are many operations like this that spring up overnight, requiring only a room with some phones and some willing individuals to make the calls.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, ID theft is THE fastest growing crime, with ten million new victims every year. The US Department of Justice reports that ID theft has replaced drug trafficking as their number one priority.

The important thing to remember is that your credit card company will never call you on the phone and ask for your number.

So if you use a credit card to buy things on the internet, it is vitally important that you guard your number by not revealing it to anyone who calls, and to shop only on websites that you solicit on you own accord and who employ credit card security practices like VeriSign or PayPal.

If you suspect that you have been duped into revealing your credit card numbers to someone you do not trust, immediately call the toll-free 24 hour number on the back of your card.

It is a law that once you report the loss of your card or theft of your number, you are no longer liable for unauthorized charges (although, at least with VISA, there is a fifty dollar minimum).

If you want to put more distance between you and telemarketers in general, you can sign up your number with the Do Not Call Registry, toll-free at

1-888-382-1222 (calling from the telephone number you want deleted).

Lastly, if you do pick up the phone and a telemarketer is on the other end, you can say, "Please put my number on your do not call list."

By law, once you say this, per FCC requirements, your number is off limits to this telemarketing company for the next ten years.

While this can create a problem for legitimate organizations which might call you, you can still donate to them via the postal service, and this allows you to verify the legality of that operation without risking the theft of your identity.