IDENTITY THEFT STATISTICS

The cold hard facts…what every American should know about identity theft

While many Americans will not be victmized in the coming year, it is important to understand the facts and statistics of identity theft. When a theft or fraud occurs, the damage can be life altering. For a few dollars a month we believe the expense of a Guard Well membership is well worth the protection and piece of mind.

Our goal is not to alarm you, yet to educate you. It is our hope and intention that you will use our online Identity Protection Tips and other reputable sources to educate yourself and make the best possible decision for you and your family.

We beleive very strongly that if you choose an identity theft product that you should choose Guard Well Identity Theft Solutions. We have the most efficient, effective and thorough protection, monitoring, support and resolution services available.

THE COLD, HARD FACTS

Over 17 million Americans had their identity stolen in 2018, averaging 48,000 victims each day. (Javelin Strategy and Research)

Over 5,000 Americans are victimized by Medical Identity Theft every day. (Javelin Strategy and Research)

Over 100,000 records were either lost or stolen every hour in 2017. (Javelin Strategy and Research)

Children are 5 times more likely to be victims of identity theft than adults. (Carnegie Melon Cylab)

A laptop is stolen every 50 seconds in America. (www.wsj.com)

There were 1293 Data Breaches in 2017. (Experian)

Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter users had the highest incidence of fraud. (Javelin Strategy and Research)

Tax return fraud increased 600% from tax year 2016 to 2017. (Guard Well)

639,094,839 records containing personal identifying information have been stolen via American data breaches since 2005. (Bill Donovan, CFO, Guard Well)

According to the FTC Identity theft has been the #1 consumer complaint they received for the last 15 years

Identity theft increases approximately 13% each year. (Javelin Strategy and Research)

72% of identity theft victims do not know the source of the crime. (Identity Theft Assistance Center)

67% of identity theft is non-financial. (Federal Trade Commission)

Over 8 MILLION Social Security Numbers are being used by more than one person. (Internal Revenue Service)

The resale of stolen data now exceeds $1 Trillion annually. (www.wsj.com)

“…identity theft costs consumers about $50 billion annually.” (Congressional Research Service, January 10, 2010)

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. (Social Security Administration, 2009)

The average number of hours victims spend repairing the damage caused by identity theft is 165 hours. (Guard Well)

“Identity theft is a growing problem globally” (Security Technology News)

There are at least 48 types of identity theft or fraud. Only 33% of identity fraud is credit/loan/bank related.

“….credit or bank fraud is only 1/3 of the type identity fraud reported…” (Federal Trade Commission)

In some groups of survey respondents, over half reported that their identity had been misused to gain medical services. (The ID Theft Resource Center)

Stolen personal information is a hot commodity for illegal aliens and others whose circumstances make it difficult to get jobs using their true identities. (Consumer Federation of America)

Some identity theft victims are shocked to discover that their personal information has been used by imposters in civil or criminal cases. (Consumer Federation of America)

“I started getting letters from attorneys that wanted to represent me against my drug possession charges. I was stunned, these people stole my identity and when they were arrested gave the police a drivers license with my information on it” (JH, Ohio. Identity theft victim and Guard Well member)

How do I protect my Family?

“A thief who steals a childï¿½s information may use it for many years before the crime is discovered” (Identity Theft Assistance Center)

“Identity thieves and fraudsters target older people who have often spent a lifetime saving and investing their money” (Identity Theft Assistance Center)

“Have you ever “googled” your own name? Your family member’s names? You may be completely shocked at what you find” (CEO, Guard Well)

They won’t steal my identity, I don’t even have an ATM card”

Smartphone owners experience greater incidence of fraud (Javelin Strategy & Research)

Only 15% of identity fraud is credit card related (Federal Trade Commission)

15% of identity fraud is government document fraud, the poor security and/or improper use of your personal information (Federal Trade Commission)

“They use Facebook and other social networking sites to easily obtain personal information that helps them steal identities” (JB, Illinois. Industry expert and creator of corporate data breach and identity theft systems)

“Our company understands that many other businesses are providing and identity protection product as an employee benefit, but why should we spend this extra money on our employees?”

Data Breaches increasing and more damaging ï¿½ One likely contributing factor to the identity fraud increase was the 67 percent increase in the number of Americans impacted by data breaches compared to 2010. Javelin Strategy & Research found victims of data breaches are 9.5 times more likely to be a victim of identity fraud than consumers who did not receive such a data breach letter. (Javelin Strategy & Research)

HR Bill 2221, Data Accountability and Trust Act. “To protect consumers and employees by requiring reasonable security policies and procedures to protect data containing personal information….” (www.govtrack.us)

“Companies are being held liable if there is a data breach and an employee’s or consumer’s personal information they are storing is stolen and then improperly used for identity fraud activity.” (JB, Illinois. Industry expert and creator of corporate data breach and identity theft systems)

Data Breaches increasing and more damaging (Javelin Strategy & Research)

“We are seeing a large increase in unsolicited calls from our corporate clients asking us if we can implement a identity theft product into their employee benefit package” (Employee Benefit Broker, Georgia)

“Identity theft victims must spend work hours trying to recover their own identity because that is when the offices of the people they need to speak with are open for business.” (JB, Illinois. Industry expert and creator of corporate data breach and identity theft systems)

Identity theft has been described as an “epidemic,” and the widespread use of computer systems that can hold the data of thousands of people has proliferated the opportunities for such theft. Citizens and law enforcement will remain locked in a move-countermove match with identity thieves for the foreseeable future. (ehow.com, Identity Theft Facts and Statistics)