Identity Theft Stats, Facts, and Figures

Your personal information, and that of nearly every other consumer in the world, resides on numerous servers around the globe. This makes you, and everyone else, vulnerable to identity theft.

Identity theft continues to be a big problem. The National Council on Identity Theft Protections reports that The FTC received 5.7 million total fraud and identity theft reports during 2022, 1.4 million of which were consumer identity theft cases. Identity theft cost Americans $5.8 billion in 2022. Experts say that there was a new victim every 22 seconds.

However, identity theft remains a big business, and Javelin Strategy also found that children continue to be targets of identity fraud. Happily, the number of kids affected by identity theft fell in 2022. 915,000 children were victims of ID theft in 2022, down from more than 1.25 million the previous year.

In this article, I’ll take a look at statistics, facts, and figures related to identity theft & bank fraud in recent years. I do this in the hope that this gives my readers a better idea of how and why identity theft continues to be a pressing problem for individuals, businesses, and more.

Identity Theft Statistics

• There were 1,800+ reported data breaches in 2022. There were over 422 million, up from 294 million in 2021.
• Just 5.66% of U.S. consumers were victims of identity fraud, down from 2019. Adoption of EMV chip-based credit cards helped contribute to the decline, as they cannot be copied by card skimmers.
• A 2017 Equifax data breach exposed the Social Security information, birthdays, addresses, and more of 143 million U.S. residents.
• Symantec estimates that cybercriminals compromised thousands of unique websites on average every month during 2022. Formjacking is when bad guys inject a script to skim credit card numbers entered in forms on online shopping and other types of sites.
• Account takeovers – which is when the bad guys gain access to an account and change the contact and security information – increased 131% during 2022. Projected cumulative losses to online fraud by merchants are expected to exceed $343 billion globally between 2023 and 2027.
• Mobile account takeovers continue to increase. 38% of consumers say they have been the victim of account takeover fraud in just the past two years. 41% said it had occurred to them up to five times.
• Users with an active social media presence run a 30% higher risk of becoming fraud victims, due to increased online exposure.
• The most compromised social network during 2022 was Twitter. There were two situations where Twitter users were compromised, with 227 million victims between the two incidents.
• Most identity theft complaints come from folks between the ages of 30 and 59 (accounting for 61% of all complaints).
• 75% of unprotected WiFi hotspot users fail to use a VPN to protect their connections, despite the additional protection a VPN offers.
• 60% of consumers believe their personal information is safe when using public WiFi. (It’s not.)
• 87% of users have left their personal information exposed by using public WiFi to access email or to connect to banking and other financial websites, without VPN protection.
• 43% of adults surveyed admit to online shopping while connected to public WiFi.
• 55% of users surveyed admit they would trade something for access to free WiFi. 8% would share personal information, and 7% would share access to their personal emails.
• This one doesn’t have anything to do with security, but was fascinating to me: one in six survey respondents admit to using public WiFi to watch “adult content” in the following locations: 30% at a cafe/restaurant, 29% at work, 25% at an airport, 24% on the street, and 17% at a public library. Really, people?
• One of five people surveyed believes stealing information online isn’t as bad as stealing “real life” property.
• Data from the FTC and law enforcement agencies indicate identity theft represented 25% of the over 5.7 million criminal complaints recorded from 2017-2021.
• 31% of small businesses are not actively taking measures to defend against data breaches and hacking.
• Equifax Canada says millennials are the top target for bad guys, as nearly half of fraudulent applications are for folks between the ages of 18 and 34.
• Less than half of consumers “always” use a secure password.
• 33% of those surveyed admit to sharing their account login information with other parties.
• Of those sharing passwords, on average they have shared it for two accounts – mostly email (55%), streaming (29%), and social media (43%).
• 36% of password sharers have shared the password to their online bank account information.

Top Targets for Cyber Criminals: Credit Cards and Social Security Numbers

Credit card fraud has been a problem ever since the first American Express and Bank Americard (later called VISA) credit cards were issued in 1958. However, with the debut of e-commerce in the 1990s, “Card Not Present” (CNP) credit card fraud became easier than ever.

When the first Social Security numbers were handed out in 1936, they were originally intended only to track the earnings history of U.S. workers for Social Security entitlement programs. Since then, the numbers have become a nearly universal identifier, making them attractive to identity thieves.

Credit Card and Social Security Fraud Stats

• Fortune reports that credit cards account for most instances of identity fraud. Credit card fraud was the second-most reported type of identity theft in 2021. 389,737 credit fraud reports were made to the FTC.
• A 2018 study by the Federal Reserve showed the amount of card-present credit card fraud in the U.S. declined from $3.68 billion in 2015 to $2.91 billion in 2016. Meanwhile, card-not-present (CNP) fraud jumped from $3.4 billion to $4.57 billion during the same period.
• A 2018 study by Javelin Strategy & Research said CNP fraud is 81% more likely to occur than in-store (card-present) fraud.
• Fortune reports that credit cards account for most instances of identity fraud.
• Credit card fraud is now the second-most reported type of identity theft in the U.S., accounting for 33% of all fraud reports.
• Card fraud in 2019 accounted for $32 billion in financial losses.
• Credit card skimming grew 759% in the first half of 2022 in the U.S.
• Most Social Security-related identity theft targets tax- or wage-related fraud, making up 34% of all identity data theft complaints.
• Over 25% of identity theft complaints are related to recently-opened credit card accounts. A mere 7% is related to existing card accounts.
• New Account Fraud losses were $3.4 billion in 2018, up from $3 billion in 2017.
• 60% of data breaches during the first half of 2017 involved the exposure of Social Security numbers.
• Amazingly enough, 13% of U.K. consumers believe there is nothing wrong in using someone else’s credit card without their permission to shop online!

How Can You Reduce Your Chances of Identity Theft?

While you can’t keep yourself 100% free of the risk of identity theft, you can take steps to greatly reduce your risks and increase your online protection. Here are some key common sense tips on how to be safer:

• Always use a unique, secure password for each account. A secure password is considered to be at least 8 characters (the longer, the better), and be made up of upper-case and lower-case letters, numbers and special characters when allowed.
• If you’re like most users, you’ll have a hard time remembering a unique password for each account, and may be tempted to write them down or store them in a text file or spreadsheet. Don’t do that. Use a password management program, such as 1Password, Dashlane, or NordPass. All three of these password managers save your passwords in an encrypted database and can autofill your password information into websites and apps. They also sync your password info across all of your connected devices, so it’s always there when you need it.
• In addition to secure passwords, use Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) whenever possible. 2FA adds another layer of authentication to logins, requiring a piece of information only you would know (such as a code generated by a trusted app on your device), or have at hand, such as your fingerprint. (See what I did there?)
• When you are accessing your bank accounts, credit card info, shopping online, or are engaged in any sensitive online activity, protect your activities from prying eyes by using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN encrypts your internet connection, preventing any third parties from electronically eavesdropping on your connection. This is especially important when you are using unprotected public WiFi hotspots, such as at your local coffee shop.
• Don’t open suspicious-looking emails. While Gmail and other mail services offer efficient spam filters, they can’t catch everything. Don’t open any emails from unknown senders, and be wary of clicking on any links or opening any attachments sent with the email. Even if the link or attachment is sent from what appears to be a trusted sender, be wary. Contact the sender independently to make sure they included the link or attachment. Also, there are no Algerian princes who want to share their fortune with you, and that email promising a free trip to Hawaii is also likely a scam.
• Avoid “too good to be true” offers or contests on social media. If an offer doesn’t come from a reputable, official company page, be very wary.
• Always monitor your financial information & accounts for suspicious activity. If you see activity you didn’t do, report it immediately. Even if the suspicious activity is just a small charge to your credit card statement or bank account, report it. The bad guys will often charge a small “test” amount to ensure the credit card works or that they have access to your bank account numbers and financial information.
• Keep an eye on your credit reports, and your credit score as this can highlight identity thieves if they apply for credit on your behalf. Your credit history is important to an identity thief.
• Always keep your software updated. Whether it’s your computer or mobile device’s operating system, your bank’s app, or your anti-malware or antivirus app, keep it updated.

In Closing

As you can see, the financial impact of identity theft is a growing problem that isn’t going away any time soon. While you can’t 100% ensure that your identity won’t be stolen in one of the ways I’ve discussed in this article, you can take steps to lower your risk of identity theft.

Identify Theft FAQs