SEATTLE -- Millions of students are heading to college this month with the kind of personal information identity thieves would love to get their hands on.

College students are prime targets for identity theft and some of the reasons are not as obvious as you might be think.

Some students heading to college may already be victims and not know it.

Students hit campus ready to establish more independence, and most have one thing in common: limited credit history.

That's a great attraction for banks and credit card companies looking for new customers. But it's also a time when many students discover someone else has already established credit in their name.

Identity thieves target many victims when they're children. The damage can stay hidden for years, until the student applies for a credit card at college.

Before getting swept up in campus life, personal financial experts urge students to get a free credit check. By law, consumers are entitled to a free credit report a year from each of the 3 major credit bureaus.

"This is really going to tip you off to something you might not have any awareness of, and that is, if someone was using your identity without your knowledge," said Financial Analyst Greg McBride of Bankrate.com.

Stagger the requests so you get a free report from a different bureau every 4 months. That way, you don't have to let a full year go by until your next free report. And only use the website sanctioned by the federal trade commission. Others that claim to be free, have catches that may not be in your best interest.

And be aware of how you use your information. Once classes are under way, limit the amount of personal information you share at school.

Turns out, colleges and universities are also a prime source of personal data breaches.

According to the Privacy Rights Clearing house, which tracks security breaches across the country, stored student and employee information has been either lost, misplaced, stolen or accidentally posted on the internet by staff or students at 50 colleges and universities so far this year.

To help prevent id theft, store your laptop computer in a locking box. Never loan your cell phone, PDA, school identification or driver's license. Use a student ID number instead of your Social Security number on your school documents, and add a good shredder to the list off supplies you need for school.

Students who discover someone's already stolen their identification will have to file fraud reports, contact the credit bureaus and creditors involved and put a credit free or fraud alert on your credit reports.

For more information:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/credit/rights.shtm

www.ftc.gov/ bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft

www.privacyrights.org