Identity theft is the fastest growing segment of crime in the country. There are some recent statistics that can give consumers a better idea of just how widespread the problem has become.
There were 10 million victims of identity theft in 2008 in the U.S., and one in 10 people have been victimized by identity theft. More than 1.5 million households have experienced fraud not related to credit cards – their bank accounts or debit cards were compromised. Households with incomes higher than $70,000 are twice as likely to experience identity theft than those with salaries under $50,000. Of those who’ve experienced identity theft, the information taken from 7 percent of the victims was used to commit medical identity theft.
Thirty-eight percent to 48 percent of victims discover the theft within three months, while 9-18 percent don’t discover it for four or more years.
As for recovery, it can take up to 5,840 hours to correct the damage from identity theft. The average victim spends about 330 hours repairing the damage.
Businesses lose $221 billion a year due to identity theft. On average, victims lose between $851 and $1,378 out of pocket trying to resolve identity theft. The dollar amount lost per household averages about $1,620.
Methods of identity theft include stolen wallets and paperwork such as bank statements. Online methods account for about 11 percent of the thefts committed. Thirty-eight percent of identity theft victims reported their debit or credit card number stolen, while 37 percent reported their Social Security number stolen.
More than 35 million data records were compromised in corporate and government data breaches in 2008.
As a result of the ever-climbing accounts of theft, 50.2 million people now use a credit monitoring service, and 44 percent of consumers view their credit reports at least annually.
Make sure your information is safe. Call LifeLock today.
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Tags: Identity Theft, LifeLock, statistics
