Front Range Financial Consulting

Statistics About Identity Theft and Fraud

Almost anyone can be a target of identity theft. This year alone, approximately 9 million US adults—or 4% of the U.S. population—will be victims of identity theft and identity fraud (the illegal use of stolen information).

The Better Business Bureau recently sponsored a study of identity fraud in the U.S. The study revealed that:

• The total one-year cost of ID fraud in the U.S. was $56.6 billion, averaging almost $6,400 per case.
• Average out-of-pocket cost for ID theft victims was $422, but 68% of victims incurred no out-of-pocket expenses at all.
• Victims spent an average of 40 hours resolving ID fraud issues.
• 36% of victims were able to identify the person who misused their information. Among those cases, almost half were perpetrated by someone known to the victim.
• Almost half of the identity fraud cases were detected by the victims themselves.
• 47% of victims were able to identify the source of the information theft.
• Internet use accounted for less than 10% of ID fraud cases. In fact, the study concluded that Internet use can lead to lower damages and faster detection.
• Adults 65+ had the lowest rate of identity fraud; adults 25-34 the highest