With identity theft claiming a victim every 79 seconds in the United States, many are concerned. Understanding the seriousness of this crime is one of the ways you can fight back.

• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 674,000 consumer fraud and identity theft complaints in 2006.
• The FTC estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year.
• 36% of complaints filed with the FTC in 2006 were related to identity theft.
• Total one-year fraud amount increased $2.2 billion in 2006.
• The mean fraud amount per fraud victim rose from $5,885 in 2005 to $6,383 in 2006.
• The mean resolution time was 40 hours per victim in 2006 – an increase of 43% from 2005.
• Hackers have hit 83% of financial institutions.
• Recent studies indicate that unauthorized access to checking accounts is the fastest growing form of identity theft.
• More than 57 million people have received phishing emails.
• Until recently, most state motor vehicle divisions sold drivers license information to third party marketers.
• 75% of counties in the U.S. use social security numbers on public documents (exposing 95% of Americans to identity theft).
• The chances of being a victim of:
• Violent Crime: 1 in 5,000
• Heart Disease: 1 in 2,600
• Auto Accident: 1 in 130
• Identity Theft: 1 in 23
• All a thief needs to open a credit card, get cash advances or obtain loans under your name is:
• A Social Security number
• A driver’s license
• A checking account number
• According to the FTC , credit card fraud is the most common form of reported identity theft followed by phone or utilities fraud, bank fraud, employment fraud, government documents/benefits fraud and loan fraud.
• Napa, CA; Madera, CA; and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX are the major metropolitan areas with the highest per capita rates of reported theft.
• Arizona, Nevada, and California are the states with the highest per capita rates of reported theft.
• One of the biggest threats to confidential employee and customer data is a company’s own current and former employees.
• 46% of identity theft was related to a financial instrument (i.e. credit card, debit card, bank account, loans), according to the February 2007 FTC Clearinghouse Survey.
• Computer security flaws at the US tax-collection agency expose millions of taxpayers to potential identity theft or illegal snooping, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).