Theft of identity is on the rise. According to the California Public Interest Research Group (CalPIRG), the first notice consumers get that someone has fraudulently taken their identity is often a call from a collection agency demanding payment on an overdue credit account they never opened.

Or perhaps the monthly billing statements do not arrive in the mail and the victim finds out the address on their account has been changed by an identity thief. Most "TOI" victims never learn how the identity thieves got a hold of their personal IDs.

The following recommendations for protecting personal information won't prevent fraud entirely. But CalPIRG says they can lessen the risks:

* Always question the information gathering and handling practices of merchants, creditors, government agencies, employers, educational institutions and others. Ask, do they really need this information for a valid purpose?

* Do not write credit card account numbers on checks or outside of envelopes. (California and many other states prohibit merchants from requiring you to do this.)

* Avoid giving account numbers over the phone to companies you are unfamiliar with, especially when you did not initiate the call.

* Request an alternate Social Security number where the numbers are used for identification by schools, employers, or other institutions. Resist writing your Social Security number on checks where possible. (There is no law in California prohibiting merchants from requesting it.)

* Keep tax records and other financial documents in a secure place and destroy or delete Social Security numbers from any documents before throwing them away.

* Do not give out or write your address in conjunction with a credit card sale. (California and some other states prohibit merchants from requesting or requiring this information to be written on a credit card transaction slip.) You may want to have your name, address, and phone number deleted from marketers' lists by writing to:

Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service P.O. Box 9008 Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735

and

Telephone Preference Service P.O. Box 9015 Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735

These are two of the main providers of personal Information on consumers to companies.

* Consider using other security passwords for financial accounts instead of such common identifiers as your mother's maiden name and birth date.

* If you have your driver's license pre-printed on your checks, always shred canceled checks before, throwing them away.

* Check your billing statements each month for fraudulent charges and report them immediately. If you do not receive your statement on time, a fraudulent change of address may have been sent to the creditor or the post office. Call the creditor first and then the post office to see if a change of address has been filed in your name.

* Obtain a copy of your credit report on a regular basis to monitor for changed addresses and fraudulent account information. (The three main credit bureaus are Experian (formerly TRW), Equifax and Trans Union.)

* Pre-approved credit card offers are easily converted to fraudulent accounts. Always tear up these applications before throwing them away.

* Credit card solicitations are generated from "pre-screened lists" of credit reports provided by credit bureaus. if you do not want to receive these offers, contact each of the Big Three credit bureaus to remove your name from these lists.

For the report entitled "Identity Theft: What to Do If It Happens to You," send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

CALPIRG Attn: Theft Identity Guide 11965 Venice Blvd. 408 Los Angeles, CA 90066

Or Call

(800) 533-4449

Send e-mail to watchdog@pirg.org
or look at its Web site: http://www.pirg.org.

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