Millions of Americans have their identity stolen and this is only part of the crime.  These same Americans are victimized through numerous means of financial fraud.  The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) states that over 27 million citizens of this country were victims of identity theft in the last 5 years.  According to the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), the number of victims will increase by 500,000-700,000 each year.  Identity theft has increased by 79% from the year 2002 to 2003.

The “Identity Rehab” website states that every 79 seconds an identity is stolen in this country.  The Bureau of Justice conducted a National Crime Victimization Survey in 2004 with the following results:

• 3 in 10 households experiencing identity theft discovered they were victims by missing money or unknown account charges.
• 1 in 4 households experiencing identity theft discovered they were victims when contacted by a credit bureau.
• Approximately 2/3 of households experiencing identity theft reported some type of monetary loss.

A more recent survey noted by “Identity Rehab” found that 85% of identity theft victims found out when they were denied credit.  It was also reported that 28% of identity theft was due to a lost or stolen credit card.

The FBI has estimated that the average person takes 12 months to realize that they have been victimized by identity theft and then another 175 hours on average to clear their name.  According to the FTC, it costs victims an average of $1,500 just to restore their good name.  The average victim sustains a loss of $1,200 and 1 in 5 people lose over $5,000.  The average business loses over $10,000.  A recent survey conducted by an insurance company found that 30% of identity theft crime occurred on the internet.
Identity theft is the fastest growing “white collar” crime in the United States today.  Unfortunately, the average arrest rate is under 5%, making this one of the least convicted crimes.