The Federal Trade Commission reports that for the fourth year in a row, identity theft topped the list of consumer complaints. Identity theft accounted for over 42% of all complaints lodged in the FTC Consumer Sentinel database in 2004, up 40% from 2002. More than 50% of identity theft victims were the victims of credit card and other types of account fraud. New account fraud (where an ID thief opens up new accounts in your name) and other frauds were estimated to have victimized 3.23 million people. Studies show that up to 70% of all identity theft cases are an inside job, perpetrated by a co-worker or an employee of a business that you patronize. Perhaps the greatest surprise is that a large number of the identities were stolen not by an employee, but by the business owner.

• On average 49% of victims did not know how their information was obtained.
• Another 26% (approximately 2.5 million people) reported that they were alerted to suspicious account activity by companies such as credit card issuers or banks.
• 8% reported that they first learned when they applied for credit and were turned down.
• 15% of all victims, almost 1.5 million people in the last year, reported that their personal information was misused in non-financial ways -- to obtain government documents, for example, or on tax forms.
• 67% of identity theft victims, more than 6.5 million victims in the last year, report that existing credit card accounts were misused.
• 19% reported that checking or savings accounts were misused.
• Nearly one-quarter of all victims, roughly 2.5 million people in the last year, said their information was lost or stolen, including lost or stolen credit cards, checkbooks or social security cards.
• Stolen mail was the source of information for identity thieves in 4% of all victims, 400,000 in the last year.

*Information obtained from various sources, including the Privacy Rights Organization.

What gets taken when you are a victim of identity theft:

• Credit cards
• Bank Cards
• Phone, cable, utility information
• Checks
• Social Security Numbers
• Employment Information
• Medical benefits/records
• ...You name it!

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