How Many People Are Affected by Identity Theft?

Have you ever looked into the definition of identity?

Psychology describes it as a sense of being oneself. All the traits that make you feel who you are.

So why should you care about that?

Well, imagine if tomorrow you find out someone else claims they’re you.

It’s one of those things that always happen to someone else, but not to us. After all, we’re so mundane, why would someone want to steal our identity?

But once you realize how many people are affected by identity theft each year – mundane people like us – it stops looking that impossible.

Luckily, we’re here to give you some tips on what you should do to prevent that from ever happening.

But first some of the numbers.

Most Notable Identity Theft Statistics (Editor’s Choice):

• There’s a new identity theft victim every two seconds.
• 60 million Americans were affected by identity theft in 2018.
• 2019 notes a record high identity fraud losses – $16.9 billion.
• In 2020, there were 1,387,615 identity theft reports.
• 1,473 data breaches occurred in 2019, exposing nearly 165 million sensitive records.
• The FTC’s stats report on 2.7 million identity theft complaints in 2017.
• 1 in 15 people became victims of identity fraud.
• By 2022, it is expected that shopping fraud will cost consumers around $20 billion per year.

Ok, so what are we dealing with here?

Identity Theft Victims in Numbers

1. There were 1,387,615 identity theft reports in 2020.

(Source: AARP)

That’s double the number from 2019. And it’s no wonder, either, with the entire world going digital as a result of the pandemic.

2. Every two seconds, there is a new victim of identity theft.

(Source: Clark.com)

If that isn’t scary, then I don’t know what is. It seems like soon enough there won’t be anyone left who hasn’t suffered identity theft in one way or another. Buy an identity theft protection program to prevent anyone from stealing yours.

3. Roughly 1 in 15 people was a victim of identity fraud in 2019.

(Source: Identity Force)

That’s 14.4 million consumers, to be exact. Once identity theft occurs, there’s no saying how many times a number of people will be able to use the victim’s personal information to commit fraud.

Types of Identity Theft

There are several different types of identity theft. Here are the most common ones to beware of, along with short explanations:

Identity Theft Statistics During Covid-19

With state and federal aid programs for taxes due date extention and direct financial assistance, various scams are on the rise. Some of the most common threats target our identity online for stealing our financials via fake donations, delivery scams, fraudulent vaccinations or tests, the list goes on.

Let’s take a closer look at the implications of the pandemic on identity theft statistics in 2020.

4. Only 20% of 1400 surveyed consumers are ready to use professional identity theft monitoring services.

(Source: Experian)

Most of the surveyed – 60% – are confident that they are taking the necessary measures for preventing identity theft by being extra cautious about the legitimacy of calls, emails, letters, online offers.

5. In July 2020, 4,807 identity theft reports have been filed while the peak was in May – 7,821 reports.

(Source: FTC)

The highest number of reports come from people aged 30-39 and the biggest loss is registered with people over 80 years of age – $600.

6. As of July 2020, about 150,000 COVID-19 and financial-aid related fraud reports have been filed.

(Source: The Ascent)

To protect yourself and your business, stay informed above all! Follow official websites such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the FTC or the IRS to report any fraud attempts using official forms, hotline and live chat.

Cost of Identity Theft

Identity theft is when someone steals your personal information and uses it without your permission, usually for financial gain.

7. Victims’ out-of-pocket costs are around $1.7 billion.

(Source: Insurance Information Institute)

Criminals use the details of a person and borrow money in their name. When the financial institution receives no payment, they ask the victim – in whose name the money was borrowed – to pay it back. Hence, innocent victims have to pay for it. Even though the money is, or can be, reimbursed, victims will still have to spend some out-of-pocket expenses. Studies show that victims’ out-of-pocket costs are around $1.7 billion.

8. Consumer Sentinel Network reported that the cost of identity theft in 2018 was $1.4 billion.

(Source: FTC)

Younger people are usually the preferred victims of fraud, with 43% between 20 and 29 years reporting they’ve lost money to fraud schemes. Senior citizens (70-79 years) have accounted for 15% of all cases, according to identity theft statistics.

However.

Citizens between 30-39 are the ones most significantly affected by this trend. They’re the group of people reporting most of the incidents that fraud statistics record.

9. In 2019, a data breach in the US costs $8.19 million on average.

(Source: Digital Guardian)

We see an increase in the overall cost as in 2018 the number was $7.91 million.

Data breach in the States was an ever-increasing issue in the past 14 years.

• In 2006, it accounted for $3.54 million of loss. Compared with today’s situation, that’s an increase of 130%.

Identity theft statistics by state show that Michigan is the state with the highest per capita rate of reported identity theft complaints.

Florida, California, Maryland, and Nevada are also where most complaints were made in 2017, according to the FTC identity theft statistics.

• The state of Georgia marks the highest number of identity theft – around 229 cases per 100,000.

Although data breaches predominantly affect the US, the rest of the world also suffers the consequences of this modern epidemic.

• The United Kingdom accounts for 22% of all data breaches incidents in the past year. It’s followed very close by Canada with 21%. Australia is the third most affected country with 11% of data breaches on record for 2018.

Those are the 3 countries that lead the worldwide identity theft statistics but of course, crimes like these happen everywhere.

And yet people don’t seem to take very seriously the chances of becoming a victim to identity theft.

10. Of all 3 million reported frauds to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2018, stats reveal identity theft accounted for 14.85%.

(Source: FTC)

Identity theft statistics for 2019 say the most common types of frauds are:

• Credit card fraud
• Employment or tax-related fraud
• Phone and utilities fraud
• Bank fraud
• Loan or lease fraud
• Governmental documentation or benefits fraud

And the one category that affects most significantly consumers is:

Credit Card Fraud Statistics

11. Credit card frauds accounted for more than 167,000 reports in 2018.

(Source: FTC)

According to statistics, it’s the most common fraud among most age ranges. The only exception here are those who are 19 years old and under. They usually don’t have a good credit score yet, and thus no credit card. If you’re in the process of repairing your credit score, some credit optimization companies also offer affordable and effective identity theft protection services. Some of the leading providers of credit cards with no annual fee include additional services protecting your identity: daily monitoring of your credit score, dark web scans, identity alerts.

Teenagers are most affected by Employment or tax-related fraud. For 2018, FTC reported 7,860 cases of identity theft.

Chances of Identity Theft

9. 49,7% of total fraud reports of the 19 and under age group is for Employment and tax-related identity theft.

(Source: FTC)

Compared to the other groups where this type of crime makes no more than 11.7% of reports, we can say children and young adults are target number one for such fraudsters.

Statistics show child identity theft is common because children have clean records.  In order to keep track of your children’s activity, obtain a screen tracking software and find out whether they’re being careful enough online.

12. For 2018, 30-39 year-olds reported 26,1% or 107,367 of the ID theft stats cases.

(Source: FTC)

Furthermore…

The same group is the one affected by the largest increase of identity theft (and fraud) rates, according to reports, submitted to FTC – 33.4% from 2017 to 2018.

Identity Theft Crime Growth

13. TFC announced 444,602 reported cases of identity theft in 2018, making it the second-highest year in terms of identity theft reports on record.

(Source: FTC)

Identity theft has been steadily growing since the beginning of the century, with 86,250 cases reported in 2001.

14. In 2015, ID theft cases reached a record high of 490,112 – according to stats provided by the TFC.

(Source: FTC)

Since then, the report counts have been fluctuating, with their lowest point at 371,034 in 2017. We’re yet to see what 2019 will show, but we can assume numbers will not be dropping significantly.

How Many People Are Victims of Identity Theft?

According to Javelin Strategy, 2017 was a record high year for identity theft losses – $16.8 billion.

2019 doesn’t seem to be a better year – results show that identity fraud reached a total of $16.9 billion.

The research shows a new trend – criminals are targeting less victims making the damage harder to detect.

One reason for the record numbers, according to latest identity theft statistics, is data breaches.

Data Breach Growth- 21st Century Plague

A data breach means someone has gained access to your personal information. Names, emails, bank details, and social security numbers, among others – they can all be exposed to and exploited by unauthorized parties.

Data breaches happen most often when an organization (financial, government or other) is hacked.

But individuals could also be targetted.

According to Norton, a single data breach could expose enough personal information to make any of us target for frauds.

15. For the first 6 months of 2019, nearly 3,800 publicly disclosed data breaches were registered.

(Source: Forbes)

Statista also weighs in on data breaches and identity thefts statistics, reporting that:

16. 1,473 data breaches occurred in 2019, exposing 164.68 million sensitive records.

(Source: Statista)

An enormous amount of data in the wrong hands.

17. Formjacking is up 117%.

(Source: ConsumerAffairs)

The type of cybercrime where the information from the payment page – which normally includes customers’ credit card details – is stolen. In the year 2018, more than 57,000 unique websites were compromised by formjacking.

Medical Identity Theft Statistics

Healthcare and Finance contribute the most to the swelling number of cybercrime statistics.

Healthcare leads the statistics with a record:

18. 2,550 data breaches and 189 million compromised healthcare records – all registered in the last decade.

(Source: HIPAA Journal)

Medical identity theft stats show that in recent years, Healthcare has been facing an exponential growth of data breaches. For contrast, in 2015, there were over 5 million exposed records and in 2018 there were over 13 million.

Healthcare proves to be the most vulnerable sector.

Business Identity Theft Statistics

19. 31% of the surveyed small businesses are not taking proactive measures to mitigate cyber risk.

(Source: CSID)

And that often results in those businesses closing down.

By now it’s obvious that in an increasingly digital society, we all have some data online that is vulnerable. And considering identity theft numbers, that’s less than ideal.

Both individuals and businesses can suffer from identity theft since both business credit cards and personal ones are vulnerable – so don’t think you’re safer one way or the other.

The even more concerning fact is that identity theft statistics show:

20. In 2017, the average cost per breach in the financial sector was $336 million.

(Source: Identity Theft Resource Center)

One way experts on bank fraud can explain the statistics is by looking at the types of information financial institutions need to secure.

What’s more, hackers are especially drawn to finding new and sophisticated ways to breach bank systems.

And that can mean these types of businesses could end up paying around $825,000 on average per malware attack.

21. Cybercriminals will steal an estimated 33 billion records in 2023.

(Source: BusinessWire)

When it comes to cybercrimes, the future doesn’t look great at all. The rise in the number of cybercrimes is going unabated. It is predicted that by 2023, cybercriminals will steal a whopping 33 billion records, most of which will belong to the US.

WiFi Identity Theft Stats

Studies find that data breaches in the US are significantly more expensive.

22. 43% of surveyed in the U.S. say they shop online over public WiFi.

(Source: Experian)

Not only that, but a great number admit to not being careful with the private information they share while on a public network.

23. 87% of consumers have left their personal data exposed when using public WiFi.

(Source: Symantec)

The high number is primarily due to users not being aware that public WiFi could present a danger for their personal data.

24. 60% feel their personal information is safe when using public WiFi.

(Source: Symantec)

Given that, the majority of people don’t find it necessary to use Virtual Private Network (VPN), even if it’s one of the best ways to protect information.

Identity Theft Facts

25. 75% of consumers don’t use VPN.

(Source: Symantec)

What’s more, people don’t shy away from sharing details about their online accounts.  In this time and age, we must protect ourselves from unwanted eyes while surfing the web. There are many VPN companies that can help you, such as NordVPN, ExpressVPN, or SurfShark VPN.

26. 33% of the interviewed users in the U.S. have shared their account names and passwords with others.

(Source: Experian)

But how should we deal with identity theft?

Break Glass in Case of Identity Theft

When faced with the suspicion someone has stolen your personal information, there are several things you should do.

1. Submit a report about the theft to the FTC or call their hotline;

2. Look at placing a security freeze or fraud alert on your credit reports;

The fraud alert, also known as an “initial security alert,” will show on your credit report. When a lender or other company checks it, they will be alerted that you’re potentially a victim of identity theft.

A security freeze will prevent potential lenders from accessing your credit report. Your credit report will only be accessible by unfreezing the account.

The next important step to take is:

3. Notify your insurer and medical provider in case you become victim to medical ID theft.

Get copies of medical files and consider filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

How to Avoid Joining the Identity Theft Statistics

According to an ITCR study:

27. It usually takes around 3 months for most people to discover they’ve become victims of identity theft.

(Source: ITCR)

However, according to the same source:

28. 16% of people don’t find out about their identity being stolen even after 3 years.

(Source: ITCR)

It never hurts to be vigilant with the information you have online and check it regularly.

Consistency is a keyword when it comes to safeguarding data.

A few good steps to take to prevent yourself from joining the identity theft stats are:

1. Keep your personal information safe.

Store documents in places where they’ll be out of harm’s reach. It’s preferable to lock them away.

When disposing of sensitive materials (credit cards applications, insurance forms, medical statements, etc.), it’s best to shred or tear them.

2. Secure your online personal data.

The simplest thing would be to not put your personal data in any social media profiles or files on your computer.

When browsing websites and shopping online, make sure you do it through a secure page. This means the URL should begin with https (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure).

3. Limit what’s in your wallet.

Not hard to imagine the more personal information you have in your wallet the easier it will be for fraudsters to take advantage of you if you happen to get it stolen or lose it.

It goes without saying your social security card is one of those documents you don’t need to carry around everywhere. Keep that one secure and give it out only when absolutely necessary.

4. Have passwords and revise them regularly.

Think outside the box when choosing passwords online. Avoid having the same password for all your online accounts and change them regularly.

Numbers like 123456789 are very clearly not a safe key to use. Neither is “password123.”

Family members’ names are also not recommended, nor other personal information people search sites can provide. If you want to avoid becoming part of the statistics on identity theft, that is.

5. Be Informed.

Data breaches happen all the time. So it’s recommended that you get informed which organizations have fallen victim to recent identity thefts.

Make sure you find out what kind of information has been leaked, especially if you’re their client.

6. Don’t disclose personal information over the phone.

An obvious one – you should not share information about yourself over the phone. That is, unless you’re the one initiating the conversation for that particular reason.

Be wary!

7. Protect Your Computer.

When you have your PC protected against malicious attacks, you can safely focus on doing your work. Make sure you:

• Use a firewall and a secure browser.
• Don’t download files from strangers or unsecured websites.
• Maintain sufficient virus protection.

Another recommendation by security specialists to follow is to avoid automatic log-ins.

Being consistent in monitoring your accounts and reviewing your personal information is the best way to stay on top of potential threats.

In conclusion

Identity thefts can make us feel very vulnerable – after all, our identity gives us a feeling of consistency. The sense that we’re the same person as we were yesterday and the day before.

It gathers memories, values, beliefs, and goals to give you the idea of a self. But our identity is also the key that unlocks a life worth of savings, our financial security.

And as we move toward a prevalently digital society we need to secure our online identities and escape the identity theft statistics.