Prevent Identity Theft - Know the Facts |
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By: George John Posted: 2008-03-03 06:32:14 |
| According to an Identity Fraud Survey Report by Javelin Strategy and Research released in 2007, the number of US adult victims of identity fraud decreased from 10.1 million in 2003 and 9.3 million in 2005 to 8.4 million in 2007. The 1 year fraud amount decreased from $55.7 billion in 2006 to $49.3 billion in 2007.The mean fraud loss per victim also decreased from $6,278 in 2006 to $5,720 in 2007. The mean resolution time was reduced from 40 hours in 2006 to 25 hours per victim. The median resolution time has remained the same at 5 hours per victim.This is good news in that consumers are becoming more aware of the danger identity thieves pose and the risk of identity theft is indeed very real. The findings are encouraging, however What was once the stuff of movie plots is still the number one consumer crime reported to the FTC.The fastest growing form of identity theft is still unauthorized access to checking accounts. Another recent study finds that 70 percent do their banking or pay their bills online and over half believed they received a phishing e-mail. It is estimated that 19 percent of victims have opened a a compromised e-mail and all large financial institutions and electronic bill-paying services have been hit with phishing attacks. The difficulty in defending or preventing these type of attacks lies in the fact that many attacks originate overseas and the average life span of a one of these sites is 2.25 days.Education in how to prevent identity theft has largely led to the reduced numbers of crimes reported, although the majority of the general public still have no clue as to the severity of becoming a victim.Identity theft victims span all age groups however some seem to be affected more than others.- About 5% of identity theft victims are under 18 years of age.- Approximately 29% are between the ages of 18-29.- About 24% are between 30-39 years of age.- About 20% of identity theft victims are between the ages of 40-49.- About 13% are between the ages of 50-59.- About 3% are between the ages of 60-64.- About 6% are 65 and over.There does not seem to be any significant difference between race or ethnicity in the percentage of those falling victim to identity theft related crimes.George John is victim of identity theft. You can find more information on How to Prevent Identity Theft at http://no-id-theft.blogspot.com/ |
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