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Identity Theft Statistics and Why Identity Theft Prevention is so Important
By Paul Rushing | July 22, 2007
The Federal Trade Commission says that over 10 million Americans have been victims of Identity Theft and the number is rising daily. More than 50% of Identity theft victims have had fraudulent accounts opened in their name and 28% of the victims report use of current credit card accounts when their credit card number was stolen or misused.
The cost of identity theft continue to rise the estimated cost of identity is over 53 billion dollars per year due to fraudulent accounts being opened and other missuses of individuals identity. The average value of services received due to each incidence of identity theft was $10,200.
The total annual cost to victims of identity theft totals around 5 billion dollars per year to recover from identity theft as well as over 300 million hours of personal time resolving problems due to identity theft. If based on an average wage of $10 per hour (which is a VERY low estimate) this would place the annual cost to victims of identity theft to $8 billion dollars a year with the average per victim of $800. The cost are higher to those affected by new accounts being opened in their name to the tune of almost $1200.00
This does not take into account crimes committed in the names of identity theft victims this happens in 4.3% of identity theft cases. Imangine getting stoped for a speeding ticket to find you have outstanding warrants!
The easiest way to not become another statistic of identity theft is being diligent about Identity Theft Prevention. There are many things you can do on your own in the prevention of identity theft. You can also cut your own hair and change the oil in you carm but most people pay professionals to provide these services for them. That is why we have teamed up with Life Lock to offer Identity theft protection to our visitors. The provide comprehensive Identity Theft Prevention for less that the cost of lunch. We are able to offer our readers a 10% discount on their services making the cost only $9.00 per month. They even give you the first 30 days for free and back up their services with a $1,000,000.00 guarantee if you are a victim of identity theft while enrolled in their program. Visit Life Lock and get more valuable information.
* Statistical source Federal Trade Commission
Topics: Statistics, Prevention |