2007 ID Theft Surveys Better But Still Appalling

Javelin Research’s “2007 Identity Fraud Survey Report” shows that even with an 11.5 percent decline in ID theft in 2006, it was still $49.3 billion. 8.4 million adult-Americans were victimized at an average of $5,720 each, spending another $535 to correct the problem. The Federal Trade Commission’s 2007 report found identity theft still topping the list of complaints at 36 percent of the total. Since the ChoicePoint incident in Feb. 2005, there have been over 100 million records lost or stolen from over four hundred breaches. CP’s original 800 victims, resulting from the breach of 135,000 records, have risen to 1,400. That’s over $8.7 million of consumer losses from just one company. So don’t take comfort in this decrease, because I sense the ID thieves are just regrouping with new strategy.