With the global increase in identity theft, many governments are providing Identity Theft statistics on the growth of this crime in their country.
In Australia the ‘Australian Bureau of Statistics'(ABS) holds many recent reports on how identity theft is affecting everyday Australians.
An example from the ABS 2010-2011 Personal Fraud Survey – In 2010 – 2011 Australians aged 15 years and over lost 1.4 billion due to personal fraud.
According to Australia’s Attorney-General at the time Nicola Roxon,
Identity fraud is one of Australia’s fastest growing crimes and one in four Australians had been a victim or had known someone who had been a victim of identity theft.
A 2007 survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics also revealed that identity fraud accounted for almost 500,000 victims over the 12 months prior to the survey.
Australian Government agencies have provided an indication of the scope of identity crime. While the extent and severity of identity theft and fraud in Australia are difficult to pinpoint, a 2003 study commissioned by the Australian Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) suggested identity fraud costs the Australian economy $1 billion every year.
The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) has rated identity crime as a key enabler of serious and organized crime, which in turn is estimated to cost Australia $15 billion annually.
A growing number of Australians are being impacted by identity crime, which is now one of the most prevalent crime types in Australia.
The latest Identity Crime Survey conducted by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) in 2013 found that 9.4 percent of respondents reported having their personal information stolen or misused in the previous 12 months, with 21 per cent reporting they were a victim at some point in their life.
Of those reporting misuse in the previous 12 months, 5 percent lost money as a result, at an average of $4,101 per incident. As incidents may be under reported the true extent of identity crime victimization is likely to be much higher.
In the US, Identity Theft has been the source of most consumer complaints for 13 years in a row.
In the US the ‘Federal Trade Commission’ post annual reports on the identity theft in the USA and how much it is costing the country.
An example of this from the FTC’s report published February 2012.
“Identity Fraud cost Americans $18 Billion in 2011.″
Just released in February 2013 FTC report that Identity theft tops the list for the 13th year in a row for the most consumer complaints.
An estimated 16.6 million people, representing 7% of all persons age 16 or older in the U.S., experienced at least one incident of identity theft in 2012, the Bureau of Justice Statistics said. Financial losses due to identity theft totaled $24.7 billion, over $10 billion more than the losses attributed to all other property crimes.
Latest stats released 27/2/2014
The seemingly intractable problem of identity theft led the list of top consumer complaints once again in 2013, with U.S. consumers reporting that they lost over $1.6 billion to various types of fraud, the Federal Trade Commission said in a report released on Thursday 27th February 2014.
Identity thieves can make purchases on credit cards they do not own, make withdrawals from a victim’s bank account or take out loans in the victim’s name, among other kinds of fraud.
Latest statistics
According to Javelin Strategy & Research’s 2014 Identity Fraud Study,
There was one new identity fraud victim every two seconds in the US in 2013.
And the number of victims climbed to 13.1 million.
Thieves can steal credit and debit card information through a technology called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), which uses radio waves. The digital pickpocket brushes a device called a skimmer close to someone’s purse or wallet and steals the information from the cards inside. The information is overlaid onto any card with a magnetic strip and used to make purchases.
The Australian Institute of Criminology was commissioned by the Attorney-General’s Department to undertake a national survey in 2013 about community experiences of identity crime and misuse.
These findings indicate that identity crime has become one of the most prevalent crime types affecting Australians.
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Fraud Survey for 2010-2011, The National Identity Security Group (NISCG) – Australian Government Attorney Generals Department – Identity Security reports #Australian Bureau of Statistics 2008, Personal Fraud Survey, Australia 4528.0, 27 June. Cuganesan, S & Lacey, D 2003, Identity Fraud in Australia: an evaluation of its nature, cost and extent, a report by Standards Australia International Ltd (SIRCA), commissioned by AUSTRAC. Federal Trade Commissions – Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book for January – December 2011 and published in February 2012.