Identity Theft Statistics

Identity theft is a crime that is growing at exponential rates, largely due to the technology that handles our information for banking, housing, schools government and just about every other aspect of our lives. It used to be that stealing a person's identity actually required an act of physical theft, but that is no longer true. Many identity thieves do not know their victims personally on any level and may even live in another state or on the other side of the country. In order to get a clearer idea of the size and scope of this crime and the amount of damage that it can cause, here are some relevant statistics:

• Almost 10 MILLION Americans were victims of identity theft in 2008. Arizona topped the list of states with the dubious honor of the highest number of victims at 1427.8 per 100,000 population, far and away outpacing the next closest state, Nevada, which had only 120 victims per 100,000 residents.
• Identity theft is on the rise with a 22% increase in 2008 over 2007, showing that even with improved police enforcement measures, the threat is still very real for about 1 in every 30 Americans.
• 71% of the damage is done within one week of the actual crime of the identity being stolen. Identity thieves don't waste time with what information they find, because doing so would leave them vulnerable to changes in their potential victim's life (like a new bank account number or expiring credit cards).
• The cost to victims is less thanks to smart identity theft protection services that are helping to either nip this crime in the bud before it progresses too far, provide guaranteed backing and support for repairing the damage, and victims being more alert and aware of their accounts and status.
• Less than half of victims find out about the identity theft within 3 months of it happening and nearly 20% do not discover the crime for 4 years or more, after the damage has been done and is much more difficult to repair.
• It takes more than 2,000 hours on average for victims to repair and recover from the damage that is done by identity theft. That amount of time would be the same as working a forty-hour per week job for one year with a two-week vacation. This average, of course, is for victims who do not engage the services of a protection services to guard their identity and information.
• $221 billion per year is lost by businesses around the world every year thanks to the crime of identity theft.
• Victims lose between $1,800 to $15,000 in salary or wages while dealing with the consequences of identity theft. This is due to requirements of contacting various banks, and government agencies and visiting them for paperwork and verification over time when you should be work.
• Victims spend an average of $1,000 of their own money due to expenses related to restoring their identity and records and cleaning up the mess caused by the identity theft.