Identity Theft Statistics To Know And Learn From

If you have been dismissing the occasional identity theft statistics that you might hear on the news, don’t be so quick to ignore them. The sad fact is that people are victimized by identity theft every single day. However, the good news is that you can acquaint yourself with some of those identity theft statistics in an effort to protect yourself.

The first of the important identity theft statistics to know is that, in the US, there are three states that seem to be more prone to identity theft victims than any of the other forty-seven US states.

The most troublesome identity theft state seems to be Florida. This is a state that is home to many elderly citizens who tend to make good targets for identity thieves.

After Florida, the two next states that the identity theft statistics indicate are at the highest risks are Arizona and Texas. So, if you happen to be a resident of those three states, you should be especially on your guard.

Identity theft statistics are important to know, but you shouldn’t take them too literally. For example, if you aren’t a member of the above three states, don’t think that you’re safe. Your personal information is still very much at risk.

For example, credit card fraud is the most common form of identity theft, according to statistics from 2009. However, credit card theft only makes up about 17% of all identity thefts, as of the time of that poll.

What that means is that you are vulnerable to identity theft in many other ways. Employment fraud made up 13% of the complaints, for example. Meanwhile, utilities and phone fraud accounted for 15%. Still, though, that’s only 45% total.

According to identity theft statistics, the other 55% consisted of 16% government document fraud, 10% bank fraud and 4% loan fraud, among other types of identity theft. That’s why it’s so important to protect your personal information from thieves, no matter what you are doing.

Now that you know some important identity theft statistics, you can be on your guard. Shred personal documents and be careful of how you give out your personal information.