A report released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finds that identity theft was once again the most common consumer complaint. This marks the seventh year in a row that ID theft topped the complaint category.
The report notes that of the nearly 813,900 complaints received from the agency, nearly 258,430, or 32 percent, were related to identity theft.
The FTC report also notes that the most common form of reported identity theft was credit card fraud, which made up 23 percent of all the complaints. Following that were utilities fraud at 18 percent, employment fraud at 14 percent and bank fraud at 13 percent.
The FTC estimates that losses through identity theft totaled more than $1.2 billion last year, with a median monetary loss per person of $349.
The full report, including rankings of states and metropolitan areas, is available at www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/02/fraud.pdf.
Taking a Closer Look at ID TheftThe Center for Identity Management and Information Protection (CIMIP) at Utica College has published a study that examines closed U.S. Secret Service cases involving ID theft.
CIMIP reviewed 517 closed cases that took place between 2000 and 2006. In the vast majority of cases, federal jurisdiction was established by 18 USC 1028 (identity fraud) and 18 USC 1029 (access device fraud).
According to the CIMIP’s findings, in a majority of cases, ID theft facilitated another crime, typically fraud or larceny.
The study also revealed that in more than one-third of cases, the victims were financial organizations, whereas individuals accounted for 34.3 percent of victims.
In approximately half of the cases, thieves used the Internet or other technologies to steal IDs. In the 50 percent of cases where the Internet or technology was not used to commit the crime, address changes or Dumpster diving were used in 20 percent of the cases.
Of the 274 cases where the point of compromise was determined, in 50 percent of these cases, a business, such as a service, retail, financial corporation, was identified. A family member or friend was the point of compromise in only 16 percent of the 274 cases. A third of cases involved ID theft through employment, 43.8 percent occurring at the retail level.
The CIMIP study also revealed information about the offenders. According to the study, 71 percent of the offenders had no arrest history and 42.5 percent of the offenders were between the ages of 25 to 34.
"These findings shed new light on how identity-theft-related crimes take place, what motivates the perpetrators and who is being victimized," Gary Gordon, founder and executive director of CIMIP, says. "This study provides lawmakers and law enforcement officials with concrete data, which they can use to develop policy, allocate resources and train officials."
The Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance, provided funding for the study, with a $174,000 grant to Utica College’s Center for Identity Management and Information Protection.