Most people never dream that identity fraud could happen to them in their lifetime. And if it’s not caught quickly, there’s a significant chance of nefarious activity harming future well-intentioned activities.
Research firm Javelin Strategy & Research just released its 2017 Identity Fraud Survey, showing that it found a 16 percent increase in identity fraud victims for the year 2016. This amounts to nearly 2 million people who have collectively lost between $1 billion to $16 billion.
“After five years of relatively small growth or even decreases in fraud, this year’s findings drives home that fraudsters never rest and that when one area is closed, they adapt and find new approaches,” said Al Pascual, senior vice president, research director and head of fraud and security atJavelin Strategy & Research, in the press release. “The rise of information available via data breaches is particularly troublesome for the industry and a boon for fraudsters. To successfully fight fraudsters, the industry needs to close security gaps and continue to improve, and consumers must be proactive, too.”
Here are the numbers:
40 percent | Increase in card-not-present fraud transactions
61 percent | Rise in account takeover losses
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31 percent | Increase in fraud incident occurrences
$263 | Amount typically lost in identity fraud cases
20.7 million | Total hours spend in 2016 resolving identity fraud cases
