Avoiding Identity Theft

February 14, 2004

Identity Theft: What, Me Worry?

It's no wonder that identity theft is growing at such a phenomenal rate. According to a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) survey, one in eight respondents (12.7 percent) were victims of ID theft in the past five years. This equates to about 27 million Americans—10 million of them in 2003 alone. The figures may even be low, because reporting hasn't kept pace with the crime and many ID thefts go undetected.


Such statistics can have a paralyzing effect: Feeling helpless, we decide there's no use worrying. Or we decide it won't happen to us and live accordingly, despite the fact that the FTC found that identity theft costs an average of $10,200 in money, goods, and services per incident.

Security & Privacy entry by mjh at 05:15 PM | email this

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