FTC Says ID Thieves Are On the Rampage
Consumers and businesses were robbed of $48 billion by identity thieves to last year, according to a survey by the Federal Trade Commission.
Almost ten million consumers were victimized, resulting in out-of-pocket losses of $5 billion, the FTC reported.
The survey also showed that 27.3 million Americans were victims of identity theft in the last five years.
According to the FTC, 51% of all victims discovered the theft when they monitored their personal accounts. Another 26% were alerted by credit card issuers or banks. Eight percent found out when they were turned down for credit.
Moreover, 3.2 million consumers found that new accounts had been opened, apartments rented and medical care or employment obtained in their names. And 15% said that their data was used on government documents like tax forms, presented to police when stopped by police, and for other non-financial purposes.
One fourth of the victims said that the problem started when their credit cards, checkbooks or social security cards were lost or stolen. Another 4% said that stolen mail was the source of the information.
The survey was based on telephone interviews with 4,057 individuals.
“These numbers are the real thing,” said Howard Beales, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement. “For several years we have been seeing anecdotal evidence that identity theft is a significant problem that is on the rise. Now we know. It is affecting millions of consumers and costing billions of dollars.”
