Money Fix: On vacation? Protect your ID

As you hardworking Long Islanders are reviewing travel brochures, making reservations, packing suitcases, remember that while you may be going on vacation, identity thieves will still be on the job.

And those information crooks can wreak as much havoc as crooks of the break-in variety. Here are tips from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, an education and advocacy nonprofit in San Diego, on how to guard purses and personal information.

Sharing the fun: Resist the temptation to share on social networking sites your vacation plans and updates on daily sightseeing excursions. Besides alerting break-in-crooks, identity thieves get tipped off you're not home and your mailbox might be easy pickings for bank and other statements. Also, stop your mail or get a reliable person to pick it up daily as soon as it's delivered. "An unlocked mailbox is a gold mine for identity thieves," according to the privacy clearinghouse.

A lighter wallet: Before leaving, clean out your wallet and leave at home under lock and key unnecessary credit cards or documents containing data that, if lost or stolen, could compromise your identity. And when you leave your hotel room, lock any sensitive data in the room safe. "Considering how many people have access, hotel rooms can be relatively unsecure," says the clearinghouse tip sheet.

Online: Take care with accessing sensitive information on a public-use computer, at, say, cyber cafes or hotel business centers. Those computers may be short on encryption and long on keylogging software, which tracks your keystrokes in search of passwords and account information.