SHERMAN, Tex. - Before you pay for those holiday purchases with credit or debit cards, watch out. Identity thieves have yet another way to steal your personal information. The scary thing is criminals can steal your information without actually stealing your cards. Rashi Vats explains.

Thieves are using a high tech device to access your accounts without ever touching your cards. Authorities tell us it is becoming more and more common across the country and happened to one Sherman woman over the weekend.

Sherman police say the victim found that someone had been using her debit card to charge her bank account, but her card was never actually stolen.

Financial experts say this is not uncommon, because identity thieves are getting more creative.

"A lot of the identity theft crimes that we see are perpetrated by some very clever crooks. Some of these crooks, they look like a pager, and they are a card scanner and they can swipe that number and they can store that to print themselves a debit card in their name or credit card in their name," Edward Jones financial advisor John Mabary says.

That's all these thieves need to start making purchases and clearing your bank account. According to Mabary, debit cards are even riskier to use than credit cards.

"Debit cards have some concerns simply from the fact that you make a purchase with your debit card, it immediately electronically takes the money from your savings or checking account and it's harder to get back. Credit cards offer you a buffer of protection."

Regardless which type of card you use, police and financial advisors warn you to use caution.

"This is a crime we've been hearing more and more about over the last few years, and I think as more people use electronic means of purchases like credit cards, debit cards, check cards, you're probably going to see more and more of this. This is a very profitable venture people get away with."

For more information about how you can protect your identity, check the links below the story and tune in to the CBS Early Show on KXII for a week-long special on identity theft.

On the Web:

The FTC's Identity Theft Site

View and print your credit report

Texas Attorney General on Identity Theft