New research on identity fraud shows some surprising findings about how people become targets.
The study clears up some common misconceptions about who’s at risk. For example, seniors aren’t the biggest targets and contrary to popular belief, most incidents don’t occur online.
Most people don’t realize they’re easy targets until it’s too late.
“The purse was right there literally touching my leg,” said Marcia Gorczyca, identity fraud victim.
Thieves took Marcia’s wallet right out of her purse and within two hours racked up about $6,000 in charges.
“I felt violated and it was just terrible.”
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Thousands of Oklahomans reported having their identities stolen in 2005, according to a recent report.
One metro woman hopes her nightmare with identity theft can be a lesson to everyone else.
Two years ago, somebody became Becky Pennington Moore, at least in the eyes of creditors. They opened accounts, ran up bills and ruined Moore’s credit.
“I opened this (bill) up, and it said it owed $4,033,” she said.
According to a book published by the Federal Trade Commission, Oklahomans were ripped off for millions of dollars in 2005. One person even reported getting scammed out of $1.8 million.
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Oregon - Identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in Washington County, police say.
Identity theft occurs when unauthorized persons use someone else’s bank account information or other personal information to secure loans, credit cards, checks or merchandise, said Washington County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson David Thompson.
The most effective and least prosecuted thieves get people to give up the information voluntarily. Identity thieves often attach tantalizing offers to phone calls or e-mails. Be wary of any phone call or e-mail offering anything that sounds too good to be true. Particularly popular are travel deals, pyramid schemes and prize offerings, Thompson said.
Most people are familiar with the “Nigerian” scheme, e-mail that claims recipients can share the fortune of some deposed African nobleman or politician if only they supply their personal account information to facilitate depositing the money there.
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New numbers show identity theft is a growing concern.
According to the Federal Trading Commission (FTC), out of nearly 700,000 fraud complaints across the nation this past year, more than a third were identity theft. Sixty-three percent were other kinds of fraud, with most happening over the Internet.
Consumers reported a loss of $680 million through fraud. Delmarva residents who spoke with WBOC say that they are not taking any risks when it comes to their identities and their wallets.
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U.S. consumers lost nearly $57 billion last year to criminals who stole their identities, but online fraud was the culprit in just one in 10 cases, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
The study by the Council of Better Business Bureaus and Javelin Strategy & Research showed that identity theft cost U.S. consumers 4 percent more in 2005 than the $54.4 billion it cost in 2004. The average fraud rose to $6,383 from $5,885.
Nevertheless, the number of adult Americans who learned that criminals had stolen personal data and used it to commit fraud fell to 8.9 million, or 4 percent, from 9.3 million in 2004 and 10.1 million in 2003. Data showed that people who were younger and had lower incomes were more vulnerable.
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