Making a Case with Identity Theft Statistics
Like most white-collar crimes, identity theft is a crime most people believe they will never experience. Online day in and day out, individuals send tons of crucial information over the internet without a second thought-to online stores, banks, auction websites and even job providers.
This information is intercepted, can be used by the wrong people for serious crimes, including fraudulent charges and even identity theft. Because of the anonymous nature of the internet, and because of the security risks inherent in using it, identity theft is easy for criminals, especially if people do not believe they at risk. But as identity theft statistics prove, identity theft is a serious matter, and more people are at risk for it daily then almost any other internet-based crime.
Counting the Crimes
According to the Federal Trade Commission, over nine million Americans have their identities stolen every year, and millions more have lesser crimes committed against them, including fraudulent use of credit cards and even spamming over email accounts and home addresses. If more people were aware of identity theft statistics, however, identity theft could be more easily prevented-sadly, while people know of identity theft, they do not believe in its prevalence or how easy it is to perform.
Education is the key to protecting individuals against identity theft, and this is best promoted through identity theft statistics. Sometimes people will only listen to numbers. Talking about identity theft is not enough-if they are not convinced that it truly is a problem, they will not bother to take the necessary precautions, especially if that interferes with their daily use of the internet.
But as identity theft statistics prove, the problem is only increasing, and while most individuals believe identity theft ends at fraudulent credit card charges, they would be amazed to know exactly what kind of information can be stolen, including Social Security numbers and yes, even entire identities.
Reporting identity theft is crucial not only for individual protection, but for accurate identity theft statistics as well. Many people believe if they close their accounts and cancel their credit cards, they will be safe.
Maybe, but if the thieves are not tracked, not only could they strike someone else, they could take the information they did gather and use it to cause further damage. Identity theft statistics are important for public education, but only through reports and criminal chargers can the truly prevalence of identity theft be understood, and only then can it truly be prevented.
