ARAG Reports: New Identity Theft Data Shows Risk is Unchanged, More People Opting for Prevention

DES MOINES, Iowa, Sept. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- ARAG, a leader in legal insurance, reports in 2014, 85 percent of people took steps to prevent identity theft. Checking credit reports, shredding documents with personal information and changing passwords on financial accounts were top actions taken, according to new data released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.¹

It seems actions like these actions are good financial habits to get into. An estimated 17.6 million people, or about 7 percent of U.S. residents age 16 or older, were victims of at least one incident of identity theft in 2014. ¹  

Identity theft is when personal information is used to open a new account or commit other fraud such as receiving government benefits or giving false information to police during a crime or traffic stop. The most common type of identity theft is the unauthorized use of, or attempting to use, account information such as a credit or debit card. Often, victims who have experienced one type of identity theft are likely to experience multiple types of identity theft.

In 2014, the most common type of identity theft was the unauthorized misuse or attempted misuse of an existing account—experienced by 16.4 million persons. Victims may have experienced multiple types of identity theft. An estimated 8.6 million victims experienced the fraudulent use of a credit card, 8.1 million experienced the unauthorized or attempted use of existing bank accounts (checking, savings or other) and 1.5 million victims experienced other types of existing account theft, such as misuse or attempted misuse of an existing telephone, online or insurance account.¹

While a continuing trend — data from 2012 reports similar experiences — the news is positive: ¹

• The majority of identity theft victims (52 percent) were able to resolve any problems associated with the incident in a day or less, while about 9 percent spent more than a month.
• Most identity theft victims discovered the incident when a financial institution contacted them about suspicious activity (45 percent) or when they noticed fraudulent charges on an account (18 percent).
• Fewer than one in 10 identity theft victims reported the incident to police. The majority (87 percent) of identity theft victims contacted a credit card company or bank to report misuse or attempted misuse of an account or personal information, while 8 percent contacted a credit bureau.

While it's not time to panic, it is time to be careful. Most attempts at account misuse are quickly and easily resolved, however, once personal information is compromised, it's important to double down on efforts to watch over your information to ensure it's not misused again.

"I never had any issues until information of mine was leaked during a data breach in late 2013," says Jennifer Logan*, a victim of identity theft. "Since then, I've had at least three incidents where my bank or credit card company has called to let me know my accounts are being misused again. While I haven't lost money, it's a hassle to go without the card for a few days — and then go through the process of updating information wherever I may be using a bank card for online payments."

While most people are fortunate enough to recover quickly, those who spend more time resolving identity theft issues are more likely to experience severe emotional distress and problems with work and personal relationships. Among identity theft victims who spent six months or more resolving financial and credit problems due to the theft, 29 percent experienced severe emotional distress.¹

Two-thirds of identity theft victims reported a direct financial loss. Victims whose personal information was misused or who had a new account opened in their name experienced greater out-of-pocket financial losses than those who had an existing credit card or bank account compromised. About 14 percent of identity theft victims experienced an out-of-pocket loss of $1 or more. Of those, about half suffered losses of $99 or less and 14 percent lost $1,000 or more.¹

"Now that this has happened more than once, I opted into a service that monitors my data and personal information for me," says Logan. "Banks and credit cards monitor for possible misuse. This service does that and lets me know if other information like by driver's license, Social Security or accounts like my retirement or insurance information, are at risk. I still monitor my own reports more often. But it's good to know someone else is in my corner."

Because individual pieces of seemingly unimportant data (like date of birth or zip code) can be gathered over time to steal your identity, it's important to stay vigilant. Download this infographic to learn more about protecting yourself for the long-term. 

While anyone can be at risk, the study also showed the most common victim demographic was white, female and making above $75,000 a year ¹.

• Whites experienced identity theft at higher rates than blacks, Hispanics and other races.
• More females (9.2 million) were victims of identity theft than males (8.3 million) in 2014.
• People in households with an annual income of $75,000 or more had the highest prevalence of identity theft (11 percent), compared to those in all other income brackets.
• In addition, the number of identity theft victims age 65 or older increased to 2.6 million in 2014— up from 2.1 million in 2012.
• Ten percent of identity theft victims reported that the crime was severely distressing, compared to 33 percent of violent crime victims.

Taking preventive measures on your own are a great start. When you're ready to do more, there are people who can help. Much like you have health insurance to pay for a doctor, legal insurance helps to pay for a lawyer if and when you need one. Some plans even include additional identity theft coverage for additional protection.  Discover how legal insurance can reduce stress in your everyday life.

¹Erika Harrell. "Victims of identity Theft, 2014." Bureau of Justice Statistics Sept. 2015.

*Name has been changed to protect the person's identity.

Media Contact:

Jen Harken
ARAG Corporate Communications Manager
[email protected]

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SOURCE ARAG

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