Patrick A. Grant was stolen in April. A thief walked away with a laptop containing the University of Virginia biochemist's name and Social Security number, as well as those of more than 7,000 other professors, staff members, and students. The machine belonged to a university employee who had taken it off campus--and then it was simply taken. The…

Identity theft via bogus e-mail links, or "phishing," is escalating, with criminals becoming ever more brazen and sophisticated in their online schemes to trick people into revealing their personal information. People do get scammed. Phishing messages that appear to be sent by trusted companies dupe 3 percent of the people who receive…