Identity Theft Statistics Remain Steady

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America, and the reasons are simple: it’s easy, and it pays. I guess criminals figure, why go through life with their crappy identity when they can just steal someone else’s for the cost of lunch?

You can buy an identity package online, complete with a SSN, for about $14. (Symantec.com, March 2007) Yes, it’s just that easy.

Of the 516,740 FTC complaints received in 2003, 301,835 were complaints about fraud, and 214,905 were identity theft reports. Identity theft reports represented 42 percent of all complaints, up from 40 percent in 2002.¹⁴

Of the 635,173 complaints received in 2004, 246,570 were identity theft reports, and 388,603 were fraud complaints. For the fifth year in a row, identity theft topped the list of complaints, accounting for 39 percent of the consumer fraud complaints filed with the agency. Internet-related complaints accounted for 53 percent of all reported fraud complaints.¹⁵

For 2006, the numbers were similar: 246,000 identity theft complaints for the year, which is on par with the year before. This could be an indication that people are becoming more cautious. It could also be a sign that some of the early detection systems made available to consumers in recent years may be having an impact, as well as banks becoming more vigilant in their granting of new credit.

Historically at least, the haphazard handling of consumer's data by trusted institutions has been less than stellar. The loss or theft of Bank One and Citibank computer tapes in 2005 resulted in the compromise of millions of account and SSNs. This is just one example of the many ways in which thieves can obtain personal data from businesses.

In February 2005, ChoicePoint disclosed that thieves opened up 50 accounts and received personal data on some 145,000 consumers. Incidentally, ChoicePoint analyzes insurance claims information; it’s a clearinghouse for personal data on hundreds of millions of people. The thieves used fraudulent information to set up accounts, which granted them access to the database, and operated for a year before being discovered, defrauding some 750 people.

In April 2005, DSW Shoe Warehouse said that 1.4 million customers were affected by a cyber break-in of the company’s database. In the same month, London-based Reed Elsevier (owner of LexisNexis) announced that there may have been a breach of the LexisNexis system and that criminals may have accessed computer files containing the personal information of 310,000 people since January 2003.


14. FTC, www.ftc.gov.
15. Ibid.