|
General Identity Theft Statistics Revealed
The number of identity theft cases has steadily been increasing. In fact,
according to the identity theft statistics, the Federal Trade Commission
reported that for 4 continuous years, identity theft has been on the top
of the list of the consumer complaints.
It has been estimated that identity theft amounted to over 42 percent of the
complaints that has lodged in the FTC Consumer Database in the year 2004
and has increased about 40 percent in the year 2002.
According to the FTC Identity theft statistics, there are approximately 10
million consumers, mostly American, who have discovered that their personal
information has been intentionally used to open up a fraudulent bank account,
utility accounts and/or credit cards.
The worst case scenario is that their personal information has been wrongfully used to
commit serious crimes with their names. In the FTC identity theft statistics,
more than 50 percent of the theft victims, accounts such
as credit cards and other fraudulent bank accounts had been opened and/or utilized
by identity thieves.
New credit cards have been used for fraudulent activities. This happens
when an identity thief opens up new accounts using another person's name. Identity
theft statistics have estimated that over 3.23 million people in the world have
been victimized to date. This number is continuously increasing.
Identity theft statistics have shown that it has cost nearly $53 billion
for both existing and new accounts. This large number of identity theft includes
individual and business victims each year.
To be specific, identity theft statistics have shown that 47.5 billion people
have been victims of identity theft. Individual victims have lost on average
$500 per victim annually.
According to identity theft statistics, Americans have collectively spent about 300
million hours in resolving issues surrounding identity theft cases. It has
been estimated that in every 30 – 60 hours a victim handles various
matters, related to cases of identity theft which includes creating an account
or using existing accounts.
Identity theft statistics have proven that the people who have been victimized
by identity theft know the thieves who have stolen their precious and unique
names and identity. To avoid this scenario, you should not share important
information so that other people cannot access your accounts in any way.
Make sure that the people you share important information can be trusted.
Identity theft statistics have shown that it starts in the workplace. You
might not know it but they could be your officemates, co-worker or an employee.
Most identities of employees have been stolen because of their connections
to companies that are not handled carefully. Sometimes, your boss can even
be the suspect. He can have access to your personal information, which he
can retrieve quite easily.
Identity theft statistics have shown that in the year 2004, the complaints
rose 15 percent from the year 2003.
In the last five years, more than 25 million people have fallen victim to
Identity Theft. It is not surprising that the number of cases is still
extremely high and on the rise. Most Americans have experienced identity theft
in some form or another.
Identity theft victims are spending upwards of 175 hours of their
personal time and about $800 just to clear their names and restore
their credit history.
The Federal Trade Commission has estimated that a victim will spend 14-16
months to clear their names in cases of identity theft.
|
