The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has published a research that shows nearly 40 percent of ITRC victims say their personal information was stolen, compromised or misused in the past year.
The report goes beyond the known financial implications of identity crimes and explores the lost opportunities as well as the emotional, physical and psychological impacts experienced by victims resulting from the crimes.
For the report, the ITRC surveyed victims who contacted the ITRC and victims who did not. According to the responses, the number of repeat identity crime victims dropped year-over-year among victims. However, half of the general victims surveyed claim to have been victimized more than once. Also, victims experienced more complex attacks that require longer to resolve. The percentage of “unresolved cases from the previous year” has grown from 37 percent to 55 percent since 2020.
Other key takeaways
- Overall, identity crime victims are losing less money. Most ITRC victims and general victims report losing less than $500. However, one group of ITRC victims grew from 9 percent in 2020 to 30 percent in 2021 – those victims who lost $10,000 or more.
- The number of ITRC victims who reported experiencing negative emotions increased in 2021 to 87 percent from 79 percent in the previous year, while the number of ITRC victims who reported physical impacts jumped from 44 percent to 68 percent in one year. Two-thirds of general victims reported emotional and…
