Identity Theft Statistics

The effects of identity theft include financial losses and emotional duress because fraudsters can commit various crimes like opening new credit lines, withdrawing money from your bank accounts, or taking over your email or social media. You may also face an expensive, time-consuming recovery process.

Common Effects of Identity Theft

• Financial Losses – Victims of identity theft may experience severe financial losses. Fraudsters can create duplicate credit cards or open credit card and loan accounts in your name to make purchases, as well as withdraw money from your bank accounts.

  
  All major credit card networks provide $0 fraud liability protection. As long as you report fraud within a reasonable time frame, you are not held responsible for unauthorized charges. Credit card issuers also monitor purchases for fraudulent activity.

• Emotional Suffering – Identity theft can cause feelings of helplessness, anger, isolation, betrayal, and embarrassment. Fears around safety and financial security are often triggered. Many victims also have to accept the difficult realization that someone they know personally was involved.
• Compromised Accounts – Hackers can “own” your email and other online accounts, which is also known as an account takeover. Email and social media accounts can be used to send spam messages and malicious links to your contact list or to search for sensitive information to blackmail you.
• Damaged Credit – Fraudulent credit card and loan accounts can be used to make unauthorized purchases, leading to missed payments that can hurt your credit score.
• Criminal Record – Identity thieves sometimes use other people's names or personal information when they are arrested or accused of a crime. This can undeservedly create a criminal record in your name.
• Tax Issues – With access to your name, Social Security number, and birthday, thieves can file taxes in your name in order to claim a sizable refund. When you file your taxes, the legitimate return is then flagged as fraudulent.
• Time Consuming Recovery – Recovering from identify theft can take months. You will need to dispute any erroneous accounts and purchases with your financial institutions as well as with all three of the major credit bureaus. You will also need to secure all of your online accounts. Additionally, you may have to cancel your credit and debit cards, close your accounts, and get replacements.

  
  Depending on the type of crime, there may be other steps you must take to fully rectify the financial and personal issues caused by identity theft. Complex fraud cases may also require legal advice, which increases the length of the recovery process as well as the cost.

  Learn more about how to protect yourself from identity theft and the steps you should take if it has already affected you.

Identity thieves could use your information to apply for a credit card or loan in your name, change the address or other personal details on your financial accounts, withdraw funds from your bank, or use your identity in the event of an arrest or other legal matters. They essentially pretend to be you and commit fraud in your name.

The Federal Trade Commission received 1.1 million identity theft complaints in 2022 – the most...

You can help prevent fraud by monitoring your credit report, protecting your personal and financial information, destroying sensitive documents, and reporting suspicious activity. Although fraud is widespread, you can minimize the threat with vigilance and attentiveness.

8 Steps You Can Take to Help Prevent Fraud

• Monitor your credit report: Setting up credit monitoring can help you spot fraudulent activity in nearly real-time. When you are aware of suspicious activity, you can freeze your...

To fix your credit after identity theft, you must first take steps to secure your personal and financial information immediately if you haven't already done so. To rebuild your credit going forward, you will need a credit card reporting on-time payments and low utilization to the bureaus each month.

How to Fix Your Credit Score After Identity Theft

1. Secure Your Personal and Financial Information

   Inform your financial institutions, change any passwords or PINs, and sign-up for credit monitoring. You will want...

Yes, chip credit cards can be “hacked,” but it's important to understand how. A thief could use a “skimming” device on a card terminal to copy your credit card data and potentially clone it. However, skimmers can only copy data from your card's magnetic stripe, not the chip, which is much more encrypted. So, any copy of your card will only have a magnetic stripe, and it cannot be used at merchants with chip readers.

Contactless...

No, credit card fraud is not always a felony, but it's always illegal. Whether it's a felony or a misdemeanor really depends on the state you're in and how much money was stolen as a result of the fraud. Misdemeanors usually result in smaller fines and shorter jail sentences, while felonies charge larger penalties and can lead to incarceration in state or federal prison. 

Situations That Are Considered As Credit Card Fraud

• Stealing someone's...

If someone opened a credit card in your name, contact the credit card's issuer and inform them of the situation. They will be able to close the fraudulent account in a timely manner once you verify your identity. But don't stop there. You may be a victim of identity theft, so there are a few additional steps that you should make sure to take.

What to Do if Someone Opened a Credit Card in...

An extended fraud alert is a note that people can add to their credit reports for seven years, warning potential lenders about suspicious activity associated with their reports. Extended fraud alerts last much longer than standard fraud alerts, which stay active for only 90 days. Also, unlike standard fraud alerts, not everyone is eligible for an extended fraud alert. Only documented victims of fraud and identity theft, who can prove they are who they claim to be,...

No, you cannot open a credit card in someone else's name without their knowledge or consent as it is against the law. Attempting to do this will be considered identity theft. So, you should either open a credit card in your name or get someone to add you as an authorized user on their account. 

On the other hand, if someone else opened an account in your name, there are several steps you could take. You can also...

Credit monitoring is important because it notifies you of important changes to your credit report, which can signal identity theft and fraud. Credit monitoring is usually completely free and can help you avoid financial turmoil with minimal effort. In fact, no one can realistically keep tabs on their credit reports 24/7 without the help of a credit monitoring service (or a credit freeze).

In particular, credit monitoring can:

1. Make it easier to identify...