Publications: More Facts
The FTC reports that among victims:
- 85% of identity theft victims had one or more of their accounts misused
- only 25% of the victims reported the crime to criminal authorities
- only 22% of the victims reported the crime to one or more credit bureaus
- 50% of the victims did not know how the criminals got their personal information
- 26% of the victims said they knew the person who misused their identity
The FTC is engaged in the battle against identity theft. They report:
- There were 9.9 million Identity Theft victims in 2003.
- The loss to businesses and the victims was $53 billion.
- On average, the thief misused the victim's personal information to obtain money or goods or services valued at $10,200.
- Only one in 10 victims report they were aware that their personal information had been taken before discovering they were victims of identity theft.
- One in six identity theft victims has had their identity used by criminals when arrested and charged with a crime.
The FTC further reports that victims report that they experienced:
- 36% had credit card problems
- 35% were harassed by a collector
- 35% had loans rejected
- 23% had banking problems
- 16% had insurance rejection
- 14% had a criminal investigation