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Identity theft statistics
Consumer Identity Theft Statistics Overview
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ID
theft is the fastest growing crime in US. (FBI) |
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1
in 5 people has now been a victim of identity theft. (FTC, FBI, Fraud Invest, & JavlinBBB) |
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Total
number of victims is now over 50 million individuals. This means that 1 in 5 people in the |
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2
years ago 1 in 8 people was a victim (FTC), today 1 in 5 – individuals who
have never been victims of ID theft may soon be a minority. |
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30+
million people were victims of identity theft by 2003. (FTC) |
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9.3
million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2004 alone. (Javlin/BBB) |
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The
numbers of new victims annually over the past several years has been approximately
10 million (FBI, Javlin/BBB, Fraud
Invest) |
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The
losses to victims have been, and continue to be, significant |
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Identity
theft costs both individuals and business in money and product stolen, costs
of recovery and fraud investigation, and lost opportunity costs. |
Losses To Consumers as a Result of Identity Theft
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Average
losses, per each victim of identity theft, approaches $10,000 per victim per
attack. (FraudInvest/
JavlinBBB) |
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Although victims are finding out about the theft
of their information quicker, it is taking longer for then to recover. (IDTResource) |
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Many ID theft victims never recover $2000 on average
which is taken from their accounts by the identity thief. FTC) |
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$3.8 billion total is lost from consumer spending
annually – seriously affecting our economy. (FTC) |
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Victims spend 175 to 600 hours over months or years to
recover. (FTC/IDTResource) |
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A
more recent study indicated that most victims spend closer to 600 hours
recovering - 300% more time than indicated in previous studies. (IDTResource) |
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Victims
spend, on average, $4000 recovering from a single incident of ID theft. (FTC/ FraudInvest) |
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Victims
may end up spending much more money in their recovery if the attacks are
continuing or recurring (IDTResource) |
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Employees
rarely take all of their recovery time out of personal time. Many victims take time at work negatively affecting
their work productivity. (FactExpert) |
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Victims spend, on average, $1,200.00 or more out of
pocket recovering from identity theft. (FTC) |
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A delay of weeks or months before a victim become aware
of the theft of their identity allows a criminal to do more damage. (FTC) |
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The
emotional impact of identity theft on the victim is similar to that of
victims of violent crimes - assault, murder, rape. (IDT Resource) |
Emotional Impact
Resulting from ID Theft:
Ø In some extreme cases, ID theft
results in a loss of employment or even criminal investigation, arrest, or
unjust conviction for crimes a victim did not commit. (FTC)
Ø Only 1 in 700 ID thieves is
caught. Most identity thieves are never
caught and most victims never obtained restitution or the return of stolen
funds. Failure to catche the criminal
also leaves the victims concerned about ongoing or future victimization by the
unknown criminal. (Gartner)
Ø Harassment by debt collectors or
creditors may alert victims to the crime.
(FTC)
Ø
The responsiveness toward victims by the various
entities with which victims must interact in their recovery is often lacking in
assistance and sensitivity. (IDTResource)
Ø
Consumers indicate significant disappointment in
the assistance that they receive from many companies when they are a victim of
ID: Victims expect significant immediate
assistance which is often not available or not provided to their satisfaction.
Consumer Concern & Spending because of Identity Theft
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Consumers
are concerned about ID theft: |
49% of all adults in the |
|
A majority
of Americans, 91%, do not see the ID theft problem improving any time soon Most
individuals expect heavy ID theft incidents to increase rather than decrease
in the near future. (P& |
|
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People
are spending money to protect themselves from ID
theft: |
1 in 6 consumers, 34 million
individuals, bought a privacy protection product in 2003 At an average price of $75, to
help avoid identity theft, to check their credit report, & to surf or
shop online anonymously. (P& |
|
Consumer are not spending money
with some companies because of perceived identity theft risk associated with
a company. |
The
occurrence of ID & Information Theft Continues to Grow
In Spite of consumer Awareness
Unfortunately, consumer concern about identity theft has
not prevented 50 million Americans from becoming victims of identity
theft. But increasingly, consumers are
spending money and making decisions about with whom they do business based on
perceived risks of ID theft. Consumers
and business decision-makers are already aware of the problem of identity
theft. Many of them want to take steps
to protect themselves and their organizations. Unfortunately businesses, organizations, and
government agencies are just starting to understand the importance of taking
steps within their organization to stop the flow of unauthorized information
out of their organizations. Many
consumers, on the other hand, are already taking some of the steps that they
are aware of to protect themselves. Individuals
are starting to understand some of what they need to do to protect themselves
and they are taking some steps to protect themselves. Unfortunately, this may actually be adding to
the problem: Many people believe that
the few steps they are taking to protect themselves from identity theft
(usually shredding and not carrying their Social Security number in their
wallet) are enough to prevent ID theft. With
the continuing increase in identity theft occurrence, everyone is obviously not
doing enough! Individuals and
organizations need to continue to learn about and consistently take the
appropriate steps to protect themselves, their customers, and their employees. Many individuals and organizations simply do
not understand all of the steps that they should be taking, nor are they
committed to taking those steps – often because of their failure to understand
the importance and effectiveness of taking those steps. The Privacy Trust Group has developed
effective educational programs to address this issue and is committed to
educating the greater consumer population and business communities.
WHY THE NUMBER OF VICTIMS OF ID
& INFORMATION THEFT CONTINUES TO RISE:
Ø Criminals, who commit identity
theft, are becoming more savvy and brazen.
Ø Not everyone understands the
actions, or the failures to act, that can put them at risk. This gives the ID thief the opportunity to
steal and use victim information.
Ø Although many individuals are
learning more about some of the things that they can do to protect themselves
from ID theft, they may not know all that they can do.
Ø Or, they may not realize the
importance of some of the simple steps to protect their information that they
already know about, so they fail to remain diligent in taking those steps.
Ø
Some
people still think it can not happen to me:
Their mail has never been stolen, they have never lost their wallet, and
they mistakenly believe that they are impervious to online risks because it
simply has not happened to them yet.
Ø
Especially
online, many individuals incorrectly believe that there are so many people online
at any one time, they dangerously assume that a hacker could never find them. On the contrary, hacker often launch
automated search programs that “crawl” the World Wide Web meticulously
searching all computers and networks connected to the Internet for any
unprotected computers and systems.
Ø Victims think that since they have
already been a victim of identity theft, or if they have poor credit for some
other reason, that they are protected from further attacks by identity thieves.
POOR CREDIT & PREVIOUS ID THEFT DOES NOT PROTECT YOU
FROM ID THEFT:
Poor credit does not deter ID thieves: the criminal does not plan on paying for the
illegal credit that they obtain in a victim’s name anyway. In fact, the effects for individuals with
poor credit are even more pronounced.
When identity thieves get unauthorized credit at a higher interest rate
because of the victim’s poor credit, they may end up leaving the victim with an
even more expensive problem to correct.
In addition, victims of ID theft are more at risk than others because someone
already has their information and they may use it again or sell it to another
identity thief.
BUSINESS COSTS & LIABILITY -
The total
losses resulting from information stolen from businesses is often even greater
than theft from individual victims because of the number of victims involved or
the sheer volume of funds made available to the criminal through a corporation
or governmental agency.
“Identity Theft Surveys:
Additional Information
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Survey |
Reference notation |
Survey Data |
Find the full
survey |
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Privacy
& American Business Survey & Harris Interactive |
P& |
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www.pandab.org/id_theftpr.html |
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The
Better Business Bureau & Javelin Strategy & Research |
BBB/Javlin |
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www.javelinstrategy.com |
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The |
IDTResource |
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www.idtheftcenter.org |
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Gartner Survey |
Gartner |
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www.gartner.com
or www3.gartner.com/5_about/press_releases/pr21july2003a.jsp |
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Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) & Synovate |
FTC |
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www.ftc.gov |
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Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) & |
FBI/ |
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www.fbi.gov/page2/july05/cyber072505.htm
& www.gocsi.com/press |
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Association of Certified
Fraud Examiners
Corporate Council Report |
Fraud
Investigators |
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www.law.com/jsp/cc/pubarticleCC.jsp?id=1112090711870 |
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FactExpert:
Theft and Recovery of Identity: Insurance Coverage Report |
FactExpert |
2005 |
http://identitytheft.factexpert.com/1177-identity-theft-coverage.php |
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Entrust
Internet Security Survey |
Entrust |
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[Return to Privacy Trust Group Consumer Education Page] Consumer Identity Theft Statistics Overview
Losses To Consumers as a Result of Identity Theft
Emotional Impact
Resulting from ID Theft: Ø In some extreme cases, ID theft
results in a loss of employment or even criminal investigation, arrest, or
unjust conviction for crimes a victim did not commit. (FTC) Ø Only 1 in 700 ID thieves is
caught. Most identity thieves are never
caught and most victims never obtained restitution or the return of stolen
funds. Failure to catche the criminal
also leaves the victims concerned about ongoing or future victimization by the
unknown criminal. (Gartner) Ø Harassment by debt collectors or
creditors may alert victims to the crime.
(FTC) Ø
The responsiveness toward victims by the various
entities with which victims must interact in their recovery is often lacking in
assistance and sensitivity. (IDTResource) Ø
Consumers indicate significant disappointment in
the assistance that they receive from many companies when they are a victim of
ID: Victims expect significant immediate
assistance which is often not available or not provided to their satisfaction. Consumer Concern & Spending because of Identity Theft
The
occurrence of ID & Information Theft Continues to Grow In Spite of consumer Awareness Unfortunately, consumer concern about identity theft has
not prevented 50 million Americans from becoming victims of identity
theft. But increasingly, consumers are
spending money and making decisions about with whom they do business based on
perceived risks of ID theft. Consumers
and business decision-makers are already aware of the problem of identity
theft. Many of them want to take steps
to protect themselves and their organizations. Unfortunately businesses, organizations, and
government agencies are just starting to understand the importance of taking
steps within their organization to stop the flow of unauthorized information
out of their organizations. Many
consumers, on the other hand, are already taking some of the steps that they
are aware of to protect themselves. Individuals
are starting to understand some of what they need to do to protect themselves
and they are taking some steps to protect themselves. Unfortunately, this may actually be adding to
the problem: Many people believe that
the few steps they are taking to protect themselves from identity theft
(usually shredding and not carrying their Social Security number in their
wallet) are enough to prevent ID theft. With
the continuing increase in identity theft occurrence, everyone is obviously not
doing enough! Individuals and
organizations need to continue to learn about and consistently take the
appropriate steps to protect themselves, their customers, and their employees. Many individuals and organizations simply do
not understand all of the steps that they should be taking, nor are they
committed to taking those steps – often because of their failure to understand
the importance and effectiveness of taking those steps. The Privacy Trust Group has developed
effective educational programs to address this issue and is committed to
educating the greater consumer population and business communities. WHY THE NUMBER OF VICTIMS OF ID
& INFORMATION THEFT CONTINUES TO RISE: Ø Criminals, who commit identity
theft, are becoming more savvy and brazen. Ø Not everyone understands the
actions, or the failures to act, that can put them at risk. This gives the ID thief the opportunity to
steal and use victim information. Ø Although many individuals are
learning more about some of the things that they can do to protect themselves
from ID theft, they may not know all that they can do. Ø Or, they may not realize the
importance of some of the simple steps to protect their information that they
already know about, so they fail to remain diligent in taking those steps. Ø
Some
people still think it can not happen to me:
Their mail has never been stolen, they have never lost their wallet, and
they mistakenly believe that they are impervious to online risks because it
simply has not happened to them yet. Ø
Especially
online, many individuals incorrectly believe that there are so many people online
at any one time, they dangerously assume that a hacker could never find them. On the contrary, hacker often launch
automated search programs that “crawl” the World Wide Web meticulously
searching all computers and networks connected to the Internet for any
unprotected computers and systems. Ø Victims think that since they have
already been a victim of identity theft, or if they have poor credit for some
other reason, that they are protected from further attacks by identity thieves.
POOR CREDIT & PREVIOUS ID THEFT DOES NOT PROTECT YOU
FROM ID THEFT: Poor credit does not deter ID thieves: the criminal does not plan on paying for the
illegal credit that they obtain in a victim’s name anyway. In fact, the effects for individuals with
poor credit are even more pronounced.
When identity thieves get unauthorized credit at a higher interest rate
because of the victim’s poor credit, they may end up leaving the victim with an
even more expensive problem to correct.
In addition, victims of ID theft are more at risk than others because someone
already has their information and they may use it again or sell it to another
identity thief. BUSINESS COSTS & LIABILITY - The total
losses resulting from information stolen from businesses is often even greater
than theft from individual victims because of the number of victims involved or
the sheer volume of funds made available to the criminal through a corporation
or governmental agency. “Identity Theft Surveys:
Additional Information
|