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Identity Theft Survey Report 2003 - Contacts reporting Identity Theft. · Among Identity Theft victims, the most commonly reported contact was with the company
that had issued an existing credit card or other account that was misused or that issued a
new account to the thief (43%). (This also includes contacts with stores where a new or
existing card was used.) Victims with household incomes of $25,000 or less were less likely
to contact such companies.
· About one-quarter of victims called the police. Victims of “New Accounts & Other Frauds”
ID Theft were most likely to contact local law enforcement (43% vs. 17% among those who
had only existing accounts misused).
· Victims of the more serious forms of Identity Theft were also more likely to contact a credit
bureau (37%). Somewhat surprisingly, only 13% of victims who had existing credit card
accounts misused said they contacted a Credit Reporting agency.
· The FTC was contacted by 3% of Identity Theft victims, while 5% contacted other federal
agencies, including the Postal Service and the Social Security Administration. 38% of victims reported that they did not report that they had been victims of ID Theft to anyone.
· Older victims were less likely to report that they were victimized than younger victims. Of victims age 18 – 24, only 17% did not report their experience, while 66% of victims 65 and over did not tell anyone. Where the loss that resulted from the ID Theft totaled $5,000 or more, 81% of victims reported their experience to someone. When the loss was less than $1,000, only 54% of victims reported what had happened to anyone.
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