The U.S Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics recently released Victims of Identity Theft, 2008, based on the first Identity Theft Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey.
This report presents person-level data on the prevalence of identity theft, as well as victim experiences and responses to identity theft. It also shows how the emotional distress experienced by identity theft victims compares to victims of violent crime. Additional topics include the characteristics of victims of identity theft, financial losses, victim reporting to the police and other organizations (such as credit card companies or credit bureaus), and the amount of time spent resolving problems associated with the theft.
Highlights of this report include:
- An estimated 11.7 million persons, representing 5% of all persons age 16 or older in the United States, experienced at least one type of identity theft in a 2-year period.
- Although the total financial cost of identity theft was nearly $17.3 billion over a 2-year period, less than a quarter (23%) of identity theft victims suffered an out-of-pocket financial loss from the victimization.
- About 42% of victims spent 1 day or less working to resolve the financial and credit problems associated with the identity theft; however, 3% continued to experience problems related to the theft more than 6 months after discovering it.
To access this report, please visit:
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