Nearly 10 million Americans fell victim to identity theft fraud in 2008***
Identity thefts in 2007 totaled $49.3 billion dollars***
Identity theft has been the top consumer complaint to the FTC for the past five years in a row**
The average victim spends an average of 44 hours recovering from identity theft*
It is estimated that financial institutions lose an average of $4,800 to the identity thief per identity theft victim*
Identity theft victims spend an average of $500 repairing damage to their good name and credit record*
In 16 percent of all cases, the victim personally knew the person who had misused their personal information*
Six percent of all victims reported a family member or relative as the person responsible for misusing their personal information*
An estimated 25 percent of victims who had new accounts opened in their names did not discover that their identity was stolen until more than six months after it first occurred, compared to just 3 percent of identity theft victims who experienced only the misuse of their existing accounts. *
People ages 45 - 54 were most likely to be victims of identity theft. In the 2006 FTC study, they represent 31 percent of all identity theft victims.*
People at the younger and older ends of the age distribution are less likely to be victims of identity theft than are other members of the public. Those between ages 18 - 24 made up just 9 percent of identity theft victims. Similarly, those age 65 and over made up just 9 percent of identity theft victims.*
24 percent of identity theft complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission were from members of a part of Generation Y (ages 20 -29)**
Sources: Federal Trade Commission 2003 and 2006 Survey Reports*
Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft Database, 2008**
Javelin Strategy and Research ***
