Identity Theft Aftermath Study

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has released their 5th annual Aftermath Study, looking into the impacts of identity theft on its victims. The study is both qualitative and quantitative, involving the experiences of identity theft victims. The study seeks to understand all the impacts, from emotional impacts to the financial loss suffered.

Highlights of the 2007 ITRC Aftermath Study:

• Types of identity theft crime: 78% financial, 2% criminal, 2% government (the remaining as combination cases)
• 57% of victims had their information used to open new lines of credit
• For non-financial identity theft, 62% had thieves commit financial crimes that resulted in their names being issued in warrants
• Nearly 1/3 of identity theft were started by a person known to the victim (5-yr data)
• 82% of victims found out about the theft through an adverse action (10% found out from proactive measures by businesses, 8% saw it on their credit report)
• Victims spent an average of $550.39 in out-of-pocket expenses for damage done to existing accounts (for new accounts, an average of $1,865.27) and 116 hours to repair the damage (158 for new accounts)
• 19% of victims indicate it took more than 2 years to resolve their case (70% resolve in up to 12 months)
• Credit agencies cause delays in fixing records – 31% of victims complain of negative information being put back, 32% of it not being removed, 22% of SSNs being tied to another person’s file, 19% of a fraud alert being ignored
• 49% of victims report stressed family life

The ITRC trends indicate that obtaining new credit lines, as an avenue for fraud, may be becoming more difficult. They predict that check fraud and debit card fraud, which are increasing, may see further growth as these trends continue.

Victims of identity theft do suffer greatly, and it takes a great deal of both time and money to resolve the issues. Some issues, according to the report, may continue to linger long after credit reports are cleared. For example, insurance & credit card rates may go up. Others face an inability to get credit (64%) or to have credit agencies still calling. In some cases, victims have difficulty getting jobs or in clearing their criminal records (when their identity is used in a crime).

You can download the full report here [PDF]

Tags: id theft, identity theft, aftermath, breach, financial theft, fraud, id theft victims