Identity theft statistics
Identity Theft Statistics
We have compiled these statistics on Identity Theft from various online sources and hope to help people prevent Identity Theft from causing them problems. If you know of more Identity Theft statistics please leave us a comment below.
A variety of official statistics on identity theft have been brought together to one location here. You can check back often to view new data as the information is updated.
More statistics on Identity Theft
50.2 million Americans were using a credit monitoring service as of September 2008.
44% of consumers use AnnualCreditReport.com to view their credit reports online. One in seven consumers receive their credit report through a credit monitoring service.
38-48% discover their identity has been stolen within 3 months, while 9-18% of victims do not learn that someone has stolen their identity for 4 or more years.
Culprits
In cases of child identity theft, the most common culprit is the child’s parent.
43% of victims knew the identity thief (ITRC Aftermath Study, 2004).
Who’s at Risk?
1 in every 10 U.S. consumers has already been victimized by identity theft (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
7% of identity theft victims had their information stolen to commit medical identity theft.
Those households with incomes higher than $70,000 were twice as likely to experience identity theft than those with salaries under $50,000.
There were 10 million victims of identity theft in 2008 in the United States (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
1.6 million households experienced fraud no related to credit cards (ex. their bank accounts or debit cards were compromised).
Vulnerable Accounts
Dolar amount lost per household averaged $1,620 (U.S. Department of Justice, 2005).
On average, victims lose between $851 and $1,378 out-of-pocket trying to resolve identity theft.
70% of victims have difficulty getting rid of negative information that resulted from identity theft on their credit reports (ITRC Aftermath Study, 2004).
In 2008, existing account fraud in the United States equaled $31 billion.
Businesses around the world lose $221 billion a year due to identity theft.
47% of victims encounter issues qualifying for a new loan (ITRC Aftermath Study, 2004).
Tactics
More than 35 million data records were compromised in corporate and government data breaches in 2008.
36% of identity theft victims had their name and phone number compromised (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
38% of identity theft victims had their debit or credit card number stolen (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
Stolen wallets and physical paperwork accounts for almost half.
37% of identity theft victims had their Social Security Number stolen.
59% of new account fraud that occurred in 2008 involved opening up a new credit card and store-brand credit accounts.
24% of identity theft victims had their financial account numbers compromised.
Restoration
After undergoing identity theft, 46% of victims installed antivirus, anti-spyware, or a firewall on their computer. 23% switched their primary bank or credit union and 22% switched credit card companies (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
It takes 26-32% of victims between 4 and 6 months to resolve problems that are caused by identity theft; 11-23% of victims spend 7 months to 1 year fixing their cases.
It can take up to 5,840 hours (the equivalent of working a full-time job for 2 years) to correct the damage from identity theft, depending on the extremity of the case (ITRC Aftermath Study, 2004).
The average victim spent 330 hours repairing the damage.
Victims of identity theft must contact multiple agencies to resolve the fraud: 66% interact with financial institutions; 40% contact credit bureaus; 35% seek help from law enforcement; 22% deal with debt collectors; 20% work with identity theft assistant services; and 13% reach out to the Federal Trade Commission.
25.9 million Americans had identity theft insurance as of September 2008.