LANSING- Michigan residents who receive an e-mail asking them to verify bank account and social security numbers should beware.

It's probably an Internet scam trying to steal your identity.

"In the low-tech days, people would call people to scam them," said Attorney Gen. Mike Cox.

"Now, more of it is going online."

Identity theft is a crime on the rise, said Terry Jungel, director of the Michigan Sheriffs' Association (MSA).

"It's a risk-free way for people to steal things without being confronted," said Jungel.

The MSA has identified more than 800 kinds online scams and swindles and is conducting public awareness campaigns, Jungel said.

The Attorney General's office is using a $600,000 pilot grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services to form a senior protection brigade and train local law enforcement officers and prosecutors to deal with online hoaxes. More than 1,300 people have been trained so far to respond to Web scams.

Comerica Bank, based in Detroit, has warned its customers not to respond to any e-mails asking for sensitive information.

"Comerica does not ask for customers' personal information via email or a link in an email," said Scott Talley, Comerica's associate vice-president for corporate communications.

Scam artists posing as representatives from Citibank and eBay have conducted similar ploys, according to Snopes.com, a popular urban-legend reference Web site. Urban legends are popular but usually untrue stories and hoaxes.

"Just because an e-mail looks like it comes from an entity you do business with doesn't mean it's genuine, and just because you're being directed to a Web page that looks like that entity's home page doesn't mean you're not being sent somewhere else," reads the Snopes warning.

"Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing lest you end up his dinner."

To report suspected scams, call the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Hotline at (517) 373-1110