National Protect Your Identity Week is from October 19 to October 25. Check out these eye-opening statistics about identity theft. Then play The Case of the Cyber Criminal.
• 8.4 million Americans fell victim to identity theft fraud in 2007∗∗
• ID 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 600 hours recovering from Identity Theft∗
• It is estimated that victims of Identity Theft lose an average of $5720 per Identity Theft incident and spend an average of $1400 repairing damage to their good name and credit record∗
• In 26% of all cases, the victim knew who had misused their personal information∗
• It is estimated that 9% of all victims reported a family member or relative as the person responsible for misusing their personal information∗
• 39% of victims discovered that their identity was stolen more than seven months after it first occurred∗
• 29% of identity theft complaints were a part of Generation Y (ages 18-29)∗
• 25% of identity theft victim information was misused through credit card fraud∗
Sources: Federal Trade Commission∗ and Javelin Strategy and Research∗∗
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