According to the latest Federal Trade Commission statistics, the most reported incidents of identity theft are through stolen credit cards, utilities/phone, bank and employment fraud.

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Identity Theft

The Crime

Identity theft has supplanted drug trafficking as the fastest growing and now the number one crime in the nation. A crime in which skilled identity thieves prey on the inability of consumers to control who has access to sensitive information and how it is safeguarded.

With the information explosion, the internet and the era of easy credit, victims of identity theft continue to increase at an alarming rate.

• Approximately 15 million people were victimized by some form of identity related fraud during the past 12 months of 2006. ¹
  
  
• 49 million people have been told over the past three years that their personal information has been lost, stolen or improperly disclosed. ²
  
  

The numbers are stunning when you consider the tremendous attention and public awareness of the problem but sadly identity theft will never be entirely preventable.

Not when thieves can easily get your information by stealing your wallet or purse, sifting through your trash looking for bank and credit card statements, pre-approved credit offers and tax information.

Thieves will also get at your personal information by:

• Completing change of address forms to redirect your mail
  
  
• Acquiring key personal information you share on unsecured internet sites
  
  
• Posing as reps from legitimate companies in emails and phone calls claiming problems with an account you hold.
  
  

Personal information and data leaks from lost or stolen laptops comprise nearly 46% of all complaints to the Federal Trade Commission.

But increasing in greater numbers all the time are data breaches from third party business partners or outsourcing companies where sensitive information is compromised through misplaced or stolen consumer files and records.

Even so, many other documented cases of identity theft are caused by friends and family of the victim as well as unscrupulous employees or employers at the victim's work.

According to the latest Federal Trade Commission statistics, the most reported incidents of identity theft are through stolen credit cards, utilities/phone, bank and employment fraud.

¹ Gartner, Inc. Survey, 2007
² Harris Interactive Study, 2007