STATISTICS

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation. Victimizing nearly 10 million Americans in 2008 at a cost of $48 billion, the number of identity theft victims rose 22% over the previous year. That’s another identity stolen every three seconds. -Javelin Strategy & Research. “2009 Identity Fraud Survey Report.” February 2009

Identity theft increased 22% in 2008, affecting nearly 10 million Americans at a cost of $48 billion to consumers and businesses. -Javelin Strategy & Research. “2009 Identity Fraud Survey Report.” February 2009

Last year, identity theft complaints received by the FTC increased 21%. - Federal Trade Commission. - “Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book for January – December 2008.” February 26, 2009

Identity theft affects a significant portion of the population and will continue to rise:

• 33,627,587 records containing sensitive information were involved in security breaches in 2008. - DataLossDB.org.
• Identity theft affected 4.32% of the U.S. population in 2008. - Javelin Strategy & Research. “2009 Identity Fraud Survey Report.” February 2009