14 DAY TRIAL // We’ve said it on numerous occasions and after seeing the latest report from Javelin Strategy & Research, we must say it again: identity fraud is no laughing matter.
It turns out that 12.6 million individuals from the US fell victim to identity fraud in 2012, which equates to 1 victim every 3 seconds.
Even more worrying is the fact that the crooks that run such scams have made over $21 billion (around 16 billion EUR). Although this is not much compared to the all-time high of $47 billion (35 billion EUR) recorded in 2004.
The numbers reveal that 1 in 4 individuals who received data breach notifications subsequently became victim of identity fraud.
Interestingly, the fraudsters misused the stolen information for an average of 48 days in 2012, compared to the previous year, when the average was 55 days.
The report also found that small businesses were the most impacted by identity fraud because many victims decided to avoid using their services anymore.
The complete 2013 Identity Fraud Report is available here.