The FTC (short for Federal Trade Commission) takes ID theft very seriously and consequently is planning to conduct a survey on identity theft victims that have contacted the organization earlier this year. The goal of this survey is to detect flaws in the system, make crime fighting more efficient and better educate people about this particular threat. The President of the Identity Theft Task Force suggested this course of action last year.

Each year millions of Americans fall victim to identity theft. The criminal manages to gain access to their private data, either through malicious software, hacking, or just plain burglary, and then uses the victim's ID as a means for profit. This puts an enormous strain on the economy, on the law enforcement agencies and, last but not least, on the victim. If you have contacted the FTC between the 1st of January and the 30th of May, then you can expect the organization to contact you and ask you some questions about the whole incident. The purpose of these questions is to properly assess your success in resolving the issue.

There are several legal options that you can turn to if you are a victim (or think you are a victim) of ID theft. You can contact a law enforcement agency and file a report, you can put a 90-day initial fraud alert or a 7-year extended fraud alert on all your credit files, and so on.

If you want to comment on this survey, then you must know that for a period of 60 days the FTC accepts comments from the general public. Until the end of August you can state your opinion in regard to the effectiveness and utility of the survey, how accurately the information was gathered, how to improve data collection, or any other commentary.