Interesting Facts on Identity Theft

• 38-48% discover someone has stolen their identity within three months, while 9-18% of victims don't learn that their identity has been stolen for four or more years.

• It can take up to 5,840 hours (the equivalent of working a full-time job for two years) to correct the damage from ID theft, depending on the severity of the case.

• The average victim spends 330 hours repairing the damage (ITRC Aftermath Study, 2004).

• It takes 26-32% of victims between 4 and 6 months to straighten out problems caused by identity theft; 11-23% of victims spend 7 months to a year resolving their cases.

• In 2008, existing account fraud in the U.S. totaled $31 billion.

• Businesses across the world lose $221 billion a year due to identity theft

• Dollar amount lost per household averaged $1,620

• 43% of victims knew the perpetrator

• Stolen wallets and physical paperwork accounts for almost half (43%) of all identity theft
• 38% of ID theft victims had their debit or credit card number
• 37% of ID theft victims had their Social Security number

(All statistics taken from various sources.)