Almost everyone knows identity theft and financial fraud are growing problems but very few realize how big these problems really are. A few statistics will help bring this threat into perspective:

• As of April, 2006, a Google search on “identity theft” yields 51,200,000 entries. A similar search on "financial fraud" shows 818,000 entries. The two are, of course, closely related since most forms of financial fraud involve some sort of identity theft.
• A survey conducted in 2005 by the public think tank Privacy and American Business found that 1 in 5 Americans have personally been a victim of identity theft – an estimated total of 44 million people.
• A recent report by the Identity Theft Resource Center shows that victims spend an average of 600 hours trying to repair the damage done by the identity thief. Problems reported included difficulties in obtaining credit, clearing accounts, obtaining or holding a job, and adverse affects on insurance rates. Many victims even had arrest warrants issued in their name.
• Phishing is a widespread form of Internet fraud that is used to steal financial information. The Internet Security Threat Report prepared by Symantec Corp. shows that, in the second half of 2005, there were an average of almost 8 million phishing attempts every day !
• According to the Dow Jones Newswire, there were 130 major data breeches in 2005 affecting about 53 million Americans.

The problem of identity theft is continuing to grow in spite of new laws and the efforts of law enforcement officials. ITFF/ROC is committed to finding new and innovative ways to detect and prevent identity theft and financial fraud.

- Michael Sthultz, May 1, 2006

Almost everyone knows identity theft is a growing problem but very few realize how big a problem it really is. A few statistics will help bring this threat into perspective:

• As of this date, a Google search on “identity theft” yields 17,500,000 entries.
• A survey conducted this year by the public think tank Privacy and American Business found that 1 in 5 Americans have personally been a victim of identity theft – an estimated total of 44 million people.
• The Identity Theft Resource Center has compiled a list of U.S. data breeches that have been disclosed in 2005 (through 10/24) that shows there have been at least 118 major incidents affecting nearly 57 million individuals.
• According to a recent report by the Identity Theft Resource Center , victims spend an average of 330 hours trying to repair the damage done by the identity thief. Problems reported included difficulties in obtaining credit, clearing accounts, obtaining or holding a job, and adverse affects on insurance rates. Many victims even had arrest warrants issued in their name

The problem of identity theft is continuing to grow in spite of new laws and the efforts of law enforcement officials. ITFF/ROC is committed to finding new and innovative ways to detect and prevent identity theft and financial fraud.

- Michael Sthultz, November 1, 2005