NCJ Number
205475
Date Published
August 2003
Length
51 pages
Annotation
This document presents the results of an online survey to identify recent trends in identity (ID) theft.
Abstract
The primary focus of this survey, which built on four earlier ID theft surveys beginning in 1998, was to test recent trends in identity theft from 2001 to the present. Other objectives of the survey included: to probe types of ID theft and their origins; to obtain estimates of individual-victim costs; to collect valuable demographic patterns; and to obtain online narratives from victims to supplement the statistical results. The survey was put into the field on May 19–27, 2003. The online sample of 3,462 respondents was adjusted to represent the total U.S. national adult public of 209 million adults, not just the online population. The confidence factor for the survey is +/- 2 percent. Results of the survey found that 16 percent of respondents, representing 33.4 million individual U.S. adults, said that they had personally been the victim of consumer identity fraud or theft. The demographics for those respondents who had been victims included: age -- 20 percent were aged 30-39, 10 percent were aged 18-24, and 16-17 percent were aged 25-29 and 40-65+; race -- 20 percent of Blacks and 22 percent of Hispanics said they had been victims compared to 15 percent of Whites; income -- 20 percent of those making more than $75,000 were victims, compared to 14-16 percent in the lower income groups; and education -- 22 percent of respondents with post-graduate degrees reported being victimized, compared with 17 percent of college graduates and 12 percent of those with a high school degree or less. In addition, the survey found that 34 percent of the ID theft or fraud was committed by someone illegally obtaining credit card information; 62 percent of recent victims (January 2001–mid-May 2003) did not pay any out-of-pocket expenses to correct the ID theft or fraud, however, 38 percent of did, representing 13-14 million adults. The total amount of money lost for that time period was approximately $3.8 billion, which represents an average per victim cost of $740. The report also presents comparisons to the earlier surveys. The Appendix includes the survey questionnaire and a sample of ID theft victim experiences.