Identity Theft Affects 3.6 Million In U.S.
Robert McMillan of the IDG News Service reports that about 3 percent of all households in the U.S., totaling an estimated 3.6 million families, were affected by some sort of ID theft during the first six months of 2004 according to Department of Justice data from its annual National Crime Victimization Survey.
According to the DOJ's numbers, credit card misuse is the most common consequence of identity theft. It accounted for about half of the cases of identity theft that the survey tracked, Baum said.The average loss from these crimes amounted to US$1,290, with two-thirds of respondents saying that the theft cost them money. Based on these numbers, the nationwide estimated loss during the six months of the study amounted to $3.2 billion, for an annualized total of $6.4 billion.
Add your comment... (note that all comments are reviewed before they're published)