According to a Federal Trade Commission survey Identity-Theft is the fastest growing crime and millions of victims are reported every year.
"Identity theft and identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain."
Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998, Title 18 Part 1 Chapter 47 US Code §1028(a)(7):
Victim’s identity is taken to obtain credit, steal money from victim’s
accounts, obtain credit cards & loans from financial institutions, rent an
apartment, create accounts with utility companies, get a job in victim’s
name or file bankruptcy. Thousands of dollars are stolen by the criminal,
without the victim even knowing about it for months or even years. Traffic
infractions and felonies are the latest trends being committed by criminals
using victim’s identity.
These wrong hands can personally profit at your expense by using your
personal data especially Bank Account, Credit Card number, Social Security
number, Calling Card number and other valuable identifying data.
Unauthorized persons take funds out of bank or financial accounts, or, in
the worst cases, take over the identities altogether of the victim, who, not
only bears the financial loss, but also pays substantial additional
financial costs associated with trying to restore his reputation in the
community and correcting erroneous information.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released the results of an impact survey. The survey statistics show the following:
In 2007, 8.4 million Americans became the victims of identity theft.
Financial institutions suffered total cost of $49.3 billion, whereas the direct cost to consumers was $5 billion.
Identity theft was noted as the fastest growing crime by FTC.
Identity theft is on the top of consumer complaints to the FTC.
Some other interesting stats from the FTC study that you may find surprising are:
There are more than 25% identity theft cases in which thief is identifiable by the victim.
In 35% of those cases, the theft is committed by a relative or a family member.
In 50% cases victims don’t know how their information was stolen.
On average, individuals pay $500 against out of pocket expenses.
Only 15% of victims find out about the theft through proactive action.
On average, it takes 330 hours victim's time to resolve the problem.
73% of respondents indicated the crime involved the thief acquiring a credit card.
Identity thieves normally get and utilize personally identifiable information about individuals, or various credentials they use to authenticate themselves, in order to imitate them. Following are few examples:
Dumpster diving - searching through rubbish for personal information
Shoulder surfing - observing users typing their login credentials, credit/calling card numbers etc. into IT equipment located in public places
Recovering personal data from IT equipment and storage media including Hard Drives, USB memory sticks, PDAs and mobile phones that have been given away or sold at public dump sites, without having been properly cleaned.
Using public records about individual citizens, published in official registers such as electoral rolls
Stealing credit card, id cards, passports, or bank statements by mail theft, housebreaking or pick pocketing
Creating clone cards or using hand held card readers to pick information
Obtain data wirelessly from RFID enabled document using contactless credit card readers
Steal information from personal computers using malware, key logging software or other spyware programs
Obtain large quantity of personal data by hacking computer databases
Exploiting breaches that result in the publication or more limited disclosure of personal information such as names, addresses, Social Security number or credit card numbers
Acquire applicants' personal information by advertising fake jobs
Gain access to personal information from organizations that store and process large amounts and valuable data
Phishing - impersonating trusted organizations in phone calls, emails, SMS messages, or other communication channels in order to deceive victims into disclosing their personal information or login credentials, typically on a fake corporate website or data collection form
Breaking weak passwords using Brute-force attacks
Falsify finger print identification by casting. Gummy bears are used to deceive fingerprint scanners.
Exploiting social networking websites for personal details published by users, and using this information in subsequent social engineering activities
Get victims' email or post in order to obtain personal information such as credit cards, billing and bank/credit card statements, or to delay the discovery of new accounts and credit agreements opened by the identity thieves in the victims' names
Pretexting - using false pretenses to trick individuals, customer service representatives and help desk workers into disclosing personal information and login details or changing user passwords/access rights
Stealing checks to acquire banking information, including account numbers and bank routing numbers
Even after taking all the basic precautions, you can become a victim of identity theft, here’s what to do:
Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to report the situation, whether Online, or
By telephone toll-free at 1-877-ID THEFT (877-438-4338) or TDD at 202-326-2502, or
By mail to Consumer Response Center, FTC, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.
Key sources of help on Identity Theft:
Federal Trade Committion (FTC)
Department of Justice
Social Security Online
