Identity Theft And
Fraud Statistics
Identity theft is becoming one of the world's most
popular crimes, with people assuming the identities
of others in order to make fraudulent purchases and
transactions. In the worst-case scenario, imposters
assume your total identity, living and working as if
they were you. In most cases, though, a stolen
wallet or purse (or mail theft) leads to fraudulent
charges on credit cards and bank statements.
In either case, the statistics are alarming, but
they can help you prevent ID theft by arming
yourself with knowledge on the subject. First, it's
important to know that the typical victim of ID
theft is not extremely wealthy. He or she is middle
class or working class, and doesn't have millions of
dollars at his or her disposal.
Second, ID theft is much more prevalent that you
might imagine, so you should never think, "It can't
happen to me." Last year alone, as many as 10
million people had their identities stolen. Third,
ID theft is expensive and laborious to correct.
While companies can prevent these cases more
successfully, they aren't perfect. Victims now spend
an estimated 6,000 hours recovering from ID theft
over a period of several years. In cost, this
averages to be about $16,000 in potential or
realized income.
Finally, only five percent of these crimes ever come
to a resolution under the law. This means that
safeguarding yourself is the only way to truly
prevent this crime. Keep you wallet and purse safe
at all times and don't make any online purchases
from unsecured websites. As well, never give out
personal information over the phone unless you've
initiated the call and trust the source. |
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