Victims of Identity Theft

Presents findings on the prevalence and nature of identity theft from the 2012 Identity Theft Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey. Identity theft is defined as the unauthorized use or attempted use of existing accounts, or the unauthorized use or attempted use of personal information to open a new account or for other fraudulent purposes. The report details the number and percentage of persons age 16 or older who reported at least one incident of identity theft over the past year.

It describes how the personal information was obtained, financial losses due to identity theft, victim reporting to credit bureaus and police, and the impact of identity theft on victims' lives. The report also presents a lifetime prevalence rate for identity theft and information on the preventative actions taken to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.