Thought for the Day

ID Theft Online

The 2006 Identity Fraud Report from BBBOnline (Council of Better Business Bureau, Inc.) offers 10 key data points on identity fraud:

The number of adult victims of identity fraud has declined between 2003 and 2006, from 10.1 million people to 8.9 million people, in the United States.
The average fraud amount per case has increased from $5,249 to $6,383, over 2 years.
Sixty-eight (68%) percent of identity fraud victims incur no out-of-pocket expenses
Victims are spending more time to resolve identity fraud cases, which has increased from 33 hours in 2003 to 40 hours in 2006.

Most data compromise - 90 percent - takes place through traditional offline channels and not via the Internet, when the victim can identify the source of data compromise. (47% of victims could identify the source of the data compromise.)
Lost or stolen wallets, checkbooks or credit cards continue to be the primary source (30 percent) of known personal information theft.
Almost half (47 percent) of all identity theft is perpetrated by friends, neighbors, in-home employees, family members or relatives - someone known - when the victim can identify the perpetrator of data compromise. (36% of victims could identify the person who misused their information.)
Nearly 70 percent of consumers are shredding documents, so that trash as a source of data compromise is now less than 1 percent.

The 65+ age group has the smallest rate of identity fraud victims (2.3%).
The 35-44 demographic age group has the highest average fraud amount ($9,435). (Note: victims' age was not found to be statistically related to Internet usage as compared to traditional types of fraud.)

Misperception #1: "Consumers are helpless to protect themselves"

In 63% of fraud cases, the point of compromise was either theft by close associates, lost or stolen wallets, cards and checkbooks, breached home computers or stolen mail or trash.
Consumers detect almost half (47%) of identity fraud cases. Self-detection is faster (averages 67 days vs. 101 days), results in smaller average fraud amounts ($4,431 vs. $8,466) and smaller consumer costs ($347 vs. $538).
A key way to detect fraudulent accounts is through credit monitoring / reports. Eleven percent of fraud cases were caught via this means.

Misperception #2: "Consumers bear the brunt of the financial losses from identity fraud"

Average out-of-pocket cost for identity fraud victims is $422 (7% of the average fraud amount of $6,383) down from $675 in 2004 and $555 in 2003.

Misperception #3: "Internet use increases the risks of identity fraud"

Data compromise through the Internet is statistically unchanged from 2004 (11% to 9% in 2005).
Internet use can lead to lower damages from identity fraud. Electronic account monitoring is the fastest way to detect fraud and leads to lower losses - (22 days and $3,806).

Misperception #4: "Seniors are most frequent targets of fraud operators"

Generation X (ages 25-34) has the highest rate of identity fraud at 5.4 percent. The average fraud amount for this demographic is $6,270 as compared to the average fraud amount for the 65+ segment which is $2,665.

If you're asked for your personal information, find out how it's going to be used and how it will be protected before you share it.
If you get an email or pop-up message asking for personal information, don't reply or click on the link in the message. The safest course of action is to contact that company directly in a way you know to be genuine. In any case, don't send your personal information via email because email is not a secure transmission method.
If you are shopping online, don't provide your personal or financial information through a company's website until you have checked for indicators that the site is secure, like a lock icon on the browser's status bar or a website URL that begins “https:” (the “s” stands for “secure”). Unfortunately, no indicator is foolproof; some scammers have forged security icons.
Read website privacy policies. They should explain what personal information the website collects, how the information is used, and whether it is provided to third parties. The privacy policy also should tell you whether you have the right to see what information the website has about you and what security measures the company takes to protect your information. If you don't see a privacy policy — or if you can't understand it — consider doing business elsewhere.

You're entitled to one free credit report each year, from each of the three credit bureaus. Here's where you can go on-line to get them all: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

First: File a report with the police in the jurisdiction where you believe the crime occurred.

Second: File a Fraud Alert with any one of the three major credit bureaus:

Third: File a Fraud Alert with the Social Security Administration fraud line: 1-800-269-0271

Fourth: Call each of the companies or agencies with which you do financial business:

Credit card companies

Banks

Mortgage companies

Department store, gasoline companies, and other special-purpose charge cards

Utilities (phone, gas, electric, water/sewer)

Insurance companies

For details, see the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ID theft resource center: (http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ddd/index.html)

The FTC also makes available a couple of resources to help you report a problem:

A secure on-line form you can use to turn in a report of ID theft, which can be used to enter the information into a database used by law enforcement agencies around the country: https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/widtpubl$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU03

An ID theft affidavit, which you can use to dispute fraudulent charges and debts: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/pdf/affidavit.pdf

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse ID theft resources: http://www.privacyrights.org/identity.htm

IdentityTheft.org, of Mari J. Frank. Esq.: http://www.identitytheft.org/

BBBOnline Council of Better Business Bureau, Inc.

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