Identity Theft Statistics

U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) statistics indicate that over 27 million people have been the victim of identity theft crime in the last five years in the U.S.A.  The FBI has estimated that the number of victims will increase be by 500,000 - 700,000 each year.  They also estimate that on average victims of identity theft take 12 months before they realise they are victims of the crime and then take 175 hours to clear their name.

The FTC survey says that on average victims lost $1200, with one in five losing over $5000 with an annual cost of over $5 billion.  Average losses for business victims was over $10,000 with an annual cost of $48 billion.

In the UK the consumer magazine Which? recently conducted a survey that indicated the one in four British adults either had been affected by identity theft or knew somebody who had, with 100,000 people per year being affected and costing victims £1.3 billion per year.

According to the credit scoring firm Equifax it typically takes a UK identity theft victim up to 300 hours to clear their name.