It's called "phishing", with a "P H". You've probably heard of the term by now, but just hearing about it may not keep you from becoming a victim of identity theft.

That's because the bad guys are getting better and better.

Alison Iwata of Kirkland was checking her Yahoo e-mail account recently and came across what looked like a message from her bank.

"Thank you for banking with Bank of America, the industry leader in safe and secure online banking," it read.

Today, she laughs at the irony of that message, which also asked her to confirm her bank account number and other personal information by clicking on a special link. Iwata is a sophisticated computer user, but this message looked very real. At least at first.

"I opened it up, it had the logo, it looks legit, but I thought, 'I don't use this account for my bank account, so why are they sending information about my account here?'" said Iwata.

And then she looked at the suspicious e-mail more closely.

"This one I should have spotted because there's a misspelling here, in "department,"" said Iwata.

And then -- the dead giveaway.

"If you read the bottom of the browser bar, it'll tell you what the link is, and it said, 'Bonk of America,' said Iwata. "Bonk of America? Come on, I can read!"

Iwata is lucky the crooks were such bad spellers, because those who are out to steal personal identities are getting more sophisticated at replicating official-looking letterheads from banks and other institutions that we are normally inclined to trust.

"The best thing to do is look at the subject line and just delete it. By all means, do not click on any links contained on any e-mail, because they can take you to sites that can be harmful to your computer," said Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna.

These phishing expeditions aren't new, but because they're getting more and more realistic-looking, more and more people are becoming identity theft victims. Seattle police say roughly 4,000 I.D. thefts are reported every year in the city alone.

"I still can't believe that people are falling for this stuff, because it's been around forever. It's ironic that we have to keep relearning these lessons, but the bad guys are very creative in coming up with new takes on a very old con," said McKenna.

Alison Iwata worries most about the elderly, who may not be as computer-savvy and are more likely to trust what appears to be an official inquiry about their bank account. Not what it really is: Robbers attempting to drain their bank account.

"That doesn't make them any better than someone who just runs out and whacks someone with a bat and robbing them. That's what you're doing -- it's just electronically," said Iwata.

The important thing to remember is that no reputable bank or financial institution will ever ask you to send them your personal information by e-mail. If you have any doubts, simply call your bank by phone. And if you get any suspicious-looking e-mail, don't open any links -- simply hit your delete key.