Just in time for the “National Protect Your Identity Week” (PYIW), October 17 to 24, a new survey from Gallup shows two out of three Americans worry about identity theft.
According to Gallup's Crime survey, identity theft is the top-ranked crime concern of Americans, with two-thirds (66 percent) of U.S. adults saying that they worry “frequently” or “occasionally” about being victims of identity theft, the only crime a majority of Americans worry about at least occasionally. More specifically, 31 percent of Americans “worry frequently” about identity theft – the highest level for any crime rated in 2009 – while 35 percent “worry occasionally,” 18 percent “rarely worry,” and 15 percent – the lowest for any crime – “never worry” about it.
Gallup's Crime survey has measured Americans' fear of being victims of specific crimes for decades, with the question being updated annually as trends in crime change. “Terrorism” was added to the list in 2001, while 2009 marks the first year “identity theft” has been included. The survey asked respondents the follow question: “How often do you, yourself, worry about the following things – frequently, occasionally, rarely, or never?” The top five crimes receiving the highest percentage of “worried frequently or occasionally” answers were:
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Identity theft (66%);
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Having car stolen or broken into (47%);
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Home burglarized when you are not there (46%);
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Being a victim of terrorism (35%), and;
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Home burglarized when you are there (33%).
The survey also found that, while men and women equally worry about identity theft, people making less money were also less likely to say they worry frequently or occasionally about identity theft than those making higher amounts. Almost three-fourths (74 percent) of Americans in households earning more than $75,000 per year worry frequently or occasionally about identity theft, compared to 70 percent of households earning between $30,000 and $75,000 per year and only 54 percent of households earning less than $30,000 per year.
The results of Gallup's Crime survey were based on telephone interviews (on both land-line and cellular phones) with over 1,000 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted October 1-4, 2009. For PYIW, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) has partnered with the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) to provide consumers with identity theft education.
MyBackgroundCheck.com provides “personal” background checks that individuals perform on themselves to ensure that their personal information is current, accurate, and secure from identity theft. To learn how personal background checks can help prevent identity theft, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. Follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.
tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com
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A column in the Wall Street Journal technology section – in which the author states that she hates the term “identity theft” – argues that “identity theft” is nothing more than a “brilliant linguistic construct” and part of “a fear campaign designed to get us to buy expensive services that we don't need.”
The author of “The Fallacy of Identity Theft” also believes the real victims of identity theft and fraud are retailers who have to absorb the “vast majority” of the losses and fees associated with the crimes, and that – behind all of the hype – data shows that the overall trend of identity theft is falling.
While it is true that independent researchers at Javelin Strategy & Research showed fraud fell to $48 billion in 2008 from $58 billion in 2003, figures from the 2009 Identity Fraud Survey Report by Javelin Strategy & Research confirm that the number of identity theft and fraud victims increased 22 percent to reach 9.9 million adults in the United States in 2008.
But numbers don’t tell the real truth about identity theft; true stories about identity theft victims do:
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An identity theft victim in Omaha, Nebraska was jailed twice – once for two weeks during Christmas and New Year’s Day, and a second time after calling police to report his home had been robbed – because of an arrest warrant meant for an identity thief using his name.
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An identity theft victim in Florida suffered helplessly while an illegal alien committed crimes, ruined credit, and found work while using his name before finally catching the criminal with the help of police (although, unfortunately, happy endings like this are not common).
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An identity theft victim in Seattle, Washington struck back after a chance face to face meeting with the thief who stole her identity and then helped bring down an identity theft ring, which prosecutors said would not have happened without the identity theft victim's presence of mind.
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An identity theft victim in the Washington, D.C. area – who just happened to be
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke – showed that anyone could be a victim of identity theft. "Identity theft is a serious crime that affects millions of Americans each year," Bernanke later said in a statement.
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An identity theft victim in Oregon suffered from identity theft for 35 years – over half of his life – and “spent thousands of hours” over the decades repeatedly trying to clear his name and correct his financial records by writing letters to credit card companies, banks, and government agencies – even appealing to the alleged identity thief’s mother for help.
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An identity theft victim in Kentucky discovered how identity theft can turn landing a dream job into a nightmare after learning that another man shared his name, date of birth, and his social security number – and also had an extensive criminal record that showed up during pre-employment background checks when the identity theft victim tried to get a job.
These are just a few of the literally millions of stories about identity theft, and calling the phrase “identity theft” a “fallacy” – or deceptive, misleading, false, unsound, erroneousness – does not help with the stress and uncertainty victims face while clearing their names, or lessen the emotional impact and psychological damage caused by this crime.
Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet contained the line: “What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Identity theft by any other phrase – “person steal,” “self larceny,” “character rob” – would taste just as sour to its victims. What matters is what identity theft is – a terribly personal and invasive crime – not what it is called.
MyBackgroundCheck.com provides “personal” background checks that individuals perform on themselves to ensure that their personal information is current, accurate, and secure. To learn more about personal background checks, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. Follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.
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tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com
*We welcome relevant comments and questions from consumers, experts, and human resources professionals. Please do not submit comments with advertisements as they will not be posted publicly. Thanks for visiting our blog!