AIKEN --- He hasn't lost his basic trust of people, but Aiken resident Guy Hembree has learned to be more guarded since twice becoming a victim of identity theft.

"I make a greater conscious effort that when I use my credit card in a restaurant that I have got the card back in my possession," he said. "I am more guarded about the process."

Mr. Hembree is one of more than 9 million victims of identity theft each year, the Federal Trade Commission estimates.

In the city of Aiken and Aiken County, authorities say they are seeing more reports of such crimes. Aiken Public Safety investigators received 20 reported cases of identity fraud in 2006, and in 2007 the number increased to 33. Lt. David Turno said there have been 17 reported cases of identity fraud so far this year.

The first time it happened to Mr. Hembree was in September 2006 when he took a vehicle to a local business for some repairs. Mr. Hembree gave his credit card information over the phone to an employee to pay for the repairs.

About six weeks later, he noticed three charges to an Internet pharmacy -- the first for $1, the other two for $110 each.

Mr. Hembree filed a police report with Aiken Public Safety, and after a few months, investigators were able to track down who had stolen his information. Mr. Hembree said it took about three months for his credit card company to reimburse him.

"It's not something you want to go through again," he said.

But last September, it happened again. This time, Mr. Hembree lost his credit card. Within a week, he noticed unfamiliar charges on his statement from local retailers. Wal-Mart, one store where purchases were made, provided police with a video of the person using the card. No arrest has been made.

Lt. Michelle Walden, an investigator with the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, said identity theft is just as prevalent as any other fraud crime in Richmond County.

"Right now, I'm working on a case where a mother used her child's (identity)," the investigator said. "It happens all the time because their children don't find out until they are of age, and they try to get their own stuff."

In Richmond County, identity theft falls under forgery. The number of forgery cases last year was 1,013, down from the 1,219 cases in 2006.

But statistics available for January to April of this year show reports are increasing -- 361 cases compared to 282 during the same period of 2007.

Capt. Steve Morris, a spokesman for the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, said his department isn't seeing an increase in the cases of identity theft.

"Those cases remain constant," he said, adding the sheriff's office investigates about 150 cases each year. This year, 73 cases have been reported.

Aiken public safety detectives who investigate these crimes say people's carelessness has caused some of the increase.

"What they're doing a lot of times is they're putting pertinent information out there that shouldn't be out there," said Capt. Ray Scott, the chief investigator of the criminal investigations division. "They'll go to a store, and they're not as cautious as they should be when they use their credit cards."

The Aiken County Sheriff's Office also has seen an increase in the number of reported identity thefts in the past couple of years.

In 2006, Aiken County investigators received 113 reported cases of fraud, and of those, 23 cases specifically mentioned identity theft. In 2007, there were 154 fraud reports, with 36 specific mentions of identity theft.

"We have received 47 reported cases of fraud so far this year," sheriff's Lt. Michael Frank said. "Twenty-six of those cases mention identity theft in the narrative."