A recent independent report produced by Javelin Strategy & Research found a surprisingly wide gender gap in identity theft, as women were 26 percent more likely to be victims of fraud than men in the past year. The 2009 Identity Fraud Survey Report also revealed that the overall number of identity theft and fraud victims has increased 22 percent to nearly 9.9 million adults in the United States.

Now in its fifth consecutive year, the comprehensive survey is the nation’s longest-running study of identity fraud – defined as the unauthorized use of another person’s personal information to achieve illicit financial gain. With the help of 24,000 U.S. respondents over the past five years, the report identifies important findings about the impact of fraud while uncovering both areas of progress and concern.

Clearly the most interesting aspect of the report was the pronounced gender disparity in identity theft, and many factors led to women being 26 percent more likely to be victims of fraud than men. The growing reason behind this disparity, surprisingly, is an often-misunderstood trend that digital commerce actually makes identity theft harder, rather than easier.

The report found that fraud attacks involving women occurred more often through “in-person” channels – such as stores and restaurants – where there is less consumer control, and that a greater percentage of women make in-person purchases. In addition, women were almost three times more likely than men to report their information stolen during an in-person purchase.

As a result, men may be less prone to identity theft and fraud due to their preference for online shopping over real world retail, as just 6 percent of men suffered from breaches caused by in-store retail fraud compared with 16 percent of women. Also, because men are statistically more likely than women to adopt newer technologies such as online banking, they more often have the benefit of high-tech safeguards.

Even worse, it takes women on average almost twice as long to catch fraud as men, mostly because men are more likely to use tools that help detect fraud more quickly, such as email or mobile alerts. Women took 83 days on average to discover that their financial identities had been compromised compared with 45 days for men, leading to a far greater risk of repeat fraud for women.

This gender gap in identity theft could narrow if women begin taking advantage of the fraud detection tools available to them, like a personal background check. MyBackgroundCheck.com – a member of The Pre-employ.com Family of Companies – was one of the first personal background check services for individuals and is now a nationwide leader of the growing trend in personal information control. For more information on our services, please visit www.MyBackgroundCheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

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