Statistics

According to a 2003 FTC Report on Fraud and Identity theft:
• in the last 5 years, nearly 30 million Americans affected by ID theft
• Approximately 9 million victims per year
• Approximately $50 billion in fraud losses per year

Independent survey conducted by Javelin (2005 Identity Theft Survey) concluded:
• 68.2% used OFFLINE sources
• 11.6% used ONLINE sources

Javelin survey also produced results stating average losses by method:
• Average “phishing” (online) victim $ 2,320
• Theft of paper mail $ 9,243
• “Friends & Family” thefts $ 15,607

PC World Magazine cited an IBM’s Global Security Index on “Spear-phishing”, a form of phishing where specific user groups and individuals are targeted, increased from 56 instances in January 2005 to 600,000 in June 2005.

In 2005, bulk data theft/releases have increased significantly. Because California is the only state requiring companies to disclose a theft/release of individual information, exact numbers on bulk date releases are not known. To date in October 2005, 44,455,000 Americans have had personal information release. (That’s 1 of every 15 Americans affected).