DENVER -- Warnings have begun circulating on the Internet about new camera cell phones that claim they can be used to commit identity theft.

At least one police department in Colorado has also issued a warning that the cell phones could be used to take pictures in lines at grocery stores, restaurants and banks.

Lamar, Colo., police said they haven't had any reports of such activity, but they wanted to warn the public to be aware. The police department said that the new phones could allow criminals to take pictures of credit cards, driver's licenses and other forms of identification used by customers transacting business in public.

Snopes. Com, a Web site devoted to investigating Internet claims and urban legends said the likelihood of such an occurrence is small because the cell phone cameras don't take high quality pictures and they don't focus well.

It said the camera phone warning began circulating in early January across the Internet.

The Web site also said that most of the cameras don't have an onboard flash and rely on long exposures to capture an image, making them unsuitable for data mining over someone's shoulder.

"Although at this time the phones' limitations might appear to rule out the risk of your VISA or MasterCard details being harvested by camera phone-wielding thieves, the danger should not be discounted," Snopes.com reports. "The more expensive of these instruments take better photos, meaning they could pick off minute detail that lesser phones couldn't, so every video phone should not be judged safe to flash your plastic to. Moreover, the technology is improving, which makes it a good bet the next generation of camera phones will transmit sharper, clearer images."