Identity Theft Statistics for 2005


Defined Tag: Identity Theft Statistics.

The following are some shocking identity theft statistics compiled from the Federal Trade Commission in their annual report of fraud. For the third year in a row, identity theft has ranked the highest in terms of fraud. The identity theft “umbrella” includes internet fraud, telephone fraud, credit card fraud, bank fraud, and utility fraud. Each of these categories involves someone stealing another person’s identity and using it to make purchases or to steal money.

There were 685,000 complaints filed last year for identity theft. In total, 680 million were stolen. According to previous years’ identity theft statistics, this is most money stolen over the period of a year.

The theft occurred mostly in urban areas and in the western parts of the United States. Money wiring and online auctions were cited as growing causes for identity theft. Money wiring includes sending money to another bank account or by cashing in bogus money orders. There are scams online where people ask those living in the United States to cash a money order and send the money. By the time the money orders are found to be fake, the person is gone.

According to identity theft statistics from the FTC, other types of identity theft included credit card fraud (26%) and bank fraud (17%). These two methods are very popular ways to steal identities because many people use their credit cards online and also bank online. While many sites are secure, some sites are not. You can differentiate between the two by looking for the lock in the bottom right corner of your browser. If the lock is locked, then the site is secure.

Another way theives get information from others is through “phishing,” which is the term for sending false e-mails in order to obtain credit card numbers and bank account numbers. Never answer these e-mails if you receive them. Always call the companies directly and see if they actually sent the information. Many companies do not send e-mail asking for personal information. According to FTC identity theft statistics, this type of theft accounted for most of the 46% of cases reported of internet identity theft. These statistics are gathered every year and published at the beginning of the following year.