A national survey sponsored by the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center and Fellowes, Inc. set out to understand the perceptions, confusion and behaviors of Americans as it relates to protecting themselves from identity theft.

The result: Americans are keenly aware of and concerned about identity theft, but have tremendous uncertainty and misperceptions of the crime. This confusion leads to the ultimate feeling of vulnerability to identity theft.

The Myths and Facts:

How does identity theft happen?

• Nearly 40 percent believe identity theft is most likely to occur through online exchanges, when in reality, online exchanges only represent 9 percent of the crime ¹. The majority of identity theft crimes occur through paper documents and stolen information.
• Less than one-fifth of Americans believe identity theft is most likely to occur through stolen personal items such as credit cards or wallets that contain personal financial information, when it is actually the most common form of identity fraud nationwide ¹.
• Is there a threat from within? National statistics show that 15 percent of identity fraud cases involve family and friends, yet only 6 percent of the American public believes family and friends are likely to steal identities.

Who is most vulnerable?

• Americans vastly overestimate the risk to the elderly and vastly underestimate the risk to the young, as respondents believe that those 60 years and older are most vulnerable to the crime. In reality, 8 percent of the crime involves senior citizens, and the most vulnerable group is actually 18-29 year olds ².

How often does the crime occur?

• Nearly half of respondents believe there are fewer than 10,000 cases of identity theft reported each day in the U.S. The fact: there are more than 24,000 reports of identity fraud every day ¹.

Are we doing all we can to prevent the crime?

• Less than half of Americans order a current credit report at least once every two years, despite the fact that this is one of the most effective ways to ensure that no one is misusing your credit .
• Responses showed similar confusion when it came to the terms of "tearing up by hand" and "shredding" for document disposal -- respondents felt safe with just tearing up personal information as a way to safeguard themselves, when in reality the only true way to keep personal documentation out of the hands of would-be identity thieves is to destroy all information with a confetti-cut shredder.

Sources

1. Source: Javelin Strategy and Research, 2006 Identity Fraud Survey Report
2. Source: Federal Trade Commissions Top 10 Consumer Fraud Complaint Report

*The survey interviewed 1000 random citizens living in the United States during a two-week period in early June 2006.  Phone interviews were conducted via KRC Research, a leader in market and opinion research.  The results have a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.