Take a look at these facts about identity theft and Internet identity theft statistics:
• Identity theft is the number one ranked crime in the U.S. - higher than drug-trafficking - according to identity fraud statistics. It is the foremost complaint received by the Federal Trade Commission.
• Identity theft research by several different agencies list the top states for identity theft: Arizona, California, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Washington, Texas, Hawaii, Oregon, Georgia, Florida, Colorado, and New York.
• The theft of just one of a company's laptop computers can cause an estimated $90,000 in identity theft data damages, which can include fines, credit monitoring, victim reparations, and damage control.
• Identity theft statistics indicate that 73% of reported theft crimes involved a stolen credit card or credit card number.
• Victims can spend up to 330 hours and up to 10 years repairing damages from identity theft.
• Every two seconds, there is a new victim of identity theft.
• It can take years to discover that your identity has been stolen, according to identity theft stats.
• Problems victims encounter often include increased insurance and credit card fees, higher interest rates, collection agency harassment, and unemployment. The fallout from this crime can last for years.
• An identity theft survey demonstrated that victims suffer emotional damages similar to victims of violent crimes, such as rape, battery, and assault. Studies have shown that more than 40% of victims reported stress in family life, and some even ended relationships due to the stress from being victimized.
• 49% of people do not feel they know how to protect themselves against identity theft.
• 15% of victims are made aware of an identity theft crime by action taken by a business or identity protection agency.
