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Identity theft or fraud is the intentional appropriation for personal information of a person to impersonate them in a legal sense. Stealing identity of ape son enables thief to make a frightening number of personal and financial transactions but not in their own name which leaves the victim responsible for almost everything that might happen due to your identity theft.

However the FTC or Federal Trade Commission has kept a record of identity theft and surprisingly they also have the number of incidents being reported each year. Therefore the identity theft statistics taken recently has reveled that id theft has affected as many as 10 million people in US every year. Based on the identity theft statistics of FTC the losses to financial and business organizations have totaled around 53 billion dollar in a year.

Earlier statistics

These statistics for id theft also reveal that most common types of identity thefts are communications services fraud like utility services account for your information or opening a cell phone, credit card frauds and even loan and bank frauds. The primary cause of identity theft for several years has been the low tech and good old fashioned analog crime where the impersonators searching through mailboxes, searching the garbage for any credit card receipts or discarded bank statements and snatching purses.

However the rapid advancement in technology has actually seen an outbreak of sophisticated phishing scams. The identity theft statistics today expose these scams as the most dangerous of theft which uses both technical subterfuge and social engineering.

Identity theft had been first mentioned in the literature during 1990s and studies have showed that from 2001 to 2002 there was nearly 12 to 20 percent increase in the crime while from 2002 to 2003 the figure climbed up to nearly 80 percent. The Better Business Bureau conducted survey during 2006 which showed a decrease compared to previous figures.

However the identity theft statistics showed in Texas was along was nearly 700 percent increase in the cases during 2004 to 2005. According to the Better Business Bureau statistics it reported that in just six moths during 2004 there were nearly 3.5 million households affected by this crime. The statistics have always shown an increase since then with more number of people affected every year.

Current Statistics

In the year 2007, Consumer Sentinel which is a FTC database had registered above 780,000 complaints of identity theft and fraud crimes. The data was generated from different law enforcement agencies which are compiled by FTC. However the number of complaints during 2008 sent tot eh Consumer Sentinel database was above 1.2 million of cases from different reporting agencies.

This simply means that it showed a 50 percent increase in the overall identity theft cases compared to 2007 and 2008 data. The data for 2009 is however unavailable yet, but it has been predicted that there would be another shocking increase in the identity theft statistics of the year. This is simply because of the economic adversity such as current recession that generally corresponds to the increase in crime rate which also includes id theft in huge.

John Goldman is an expert in matters relating to Identity Theft and Identity Fraud.To learn more about things that can help you to detect and avoid ID theft and fraud http://www.idtheft-breakingnews.tv“> view our Identity Theft and Fraud website

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Online identity theft is becoming a serious concern for many people. While it seems that most online retailers will ensure that your personal information is protected it is still very much your responsibility not to display this information. The most widely used way of online identity theft is through social websites.

People seem to have no qualms about displaying all their personal details. In most countries it is not very hard to find out information about people just through their date of birth and home address. These people who partake in online identity theft have no morals and will do whatever it takes to fund their own needs and most of us are easy targets without even knowing it.

Most people seem unaware that once they put their personal information on display then they are also putting themselves at risk of online identity theft. However there are secure ways of paying for online goods that will put you less at risk such as using paypal and e-gold and such widely used online financial institutes that have already developed strategies to help combat online identity theft.

Online Identity Theft Is Not Only Virtual Heartache

The key is being cautious about where you display your information. The major problem with online identity theft is that you become vulnerable as anyone with the wrong intentions could use your identity to perhaps get a credit card, a loan.

The fear of this is that mostly terrorist groups would take on such an endeavour and this often leaves you holding the bill. You could indirectly find yourself funding terrorists activities, just because you were willing to give your information to any website that requested it.

The problem is that if someone does use your identity to take out a credit card you are the one left paying the bill. People are too willing and trusting of the million websites that require you to put in your information.

It is not hard for people who really want something to find it and if they want to use your identity then they will. It is better to be safe than end up part of the identity theft statistics.

In ensuring the safety and comfort of society the government needs our help in assisting them with the rising cost of the online identity theft. The problem is that this money funds global criminal organizations which in turn come back to vandalize or terrorize our countries. All it takes is some proactive action whereby you do not display your personal information as if it does not mean anything.

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Identity theft statistics put things in perspective and what they have been revealing can be quite shocking. It seems that one in eight people has fallen victim of Internet identity theft. The reason is clearly that people are not being very cautious about how they protect their identity.

Most of the identity theft statistics also show that people can have their identities stolen through people rummaging through their rubbish bin. People often don’t take too much care on how they dispose of their bank statements letters or personal information contained in their resumes.

In this you can easily see that these identity theft statistics prove than investing in a cheap shredder. Internets identity theft can be preventing through installing and using firewall on you PC. There are many avenues that perpetrators use to get hold of your personal details. Therefore getting yourself off mailing lists can help in cutting down the identity theft statistics.

Your mail can be stolen from your mailbox so always ensure that you have a proper mailbox, ideally your mail should be mailed inside your house. There are many ways that you can help in cutting down the identity theft statistics and protecting yourself means that you have less heartache down the line.

Public Computers Can Make You Part Of The Identity Theft Statistics

The government agencies are really keen on getting accurate identity theft statistics as they understand that the better they are informed about how identity theft is happening and where the better they are at equipping us with the right information.

There is no need for you to fall victim to scrupulous individuals who do not care what they do with your identity and what the consequences are to you. The greatest fear is that terrorist activities are getting funded through identity theft.

Furthermore people are making claims using identity theft and raking in millions. It is costing some countries billions of dollars to combat these identity theft statistics, as people are finding themselves suddenly on the wrong side of the law without even contributing to it.

Always aim to know about your finances and passwords are important. Try not to use public computers if you intend to check out personal information like online baking. Always keep your password in a safe place and make it impossible to guess by using a scrap word whereby you jumble up a lot of letters and have your password in there so no-one can guess. These entire things will hep in keeping the identity theft statistics low and therefore protect more people from becoming victims.

Go here for more about Identity Theft Facts and Avoid Identity Theft

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