The latest Federal Trade Commission report states that credit card fraud is the most common type of identity theft. A person’s existing credit card accounts are usually taken over by someone and used without permission or charged without permission, leading to identity theft. It can result in financial, psychological, and credit damage. The perpetrator walks away with the goods, and the consumer is left to handle the consequences. For us, it all starts with knowledge, so here are some important credit card fraud statistics that will keep you in the know.
Victims of Credit Card Fraud
The National Center for Victim Research estimates that 7 – 10% of US adults are victims of identity theft each year. Since married women are the most frequent victims of identity theft, their husbands and children are also presumably affected, victims of identity theft may have difficulties paying rent or mortgages, paying utilities, and purchasing groceries. In addition to having their identities stolen, 73% of victims reported difficulties with paying for their rent or mortgages, utilities, and purchasing necessities.
The Cost of Credit Card Fraud
According to the ITRC, the most frequent victims lose less than $500. The FTC says that the typical amount stolen through identity theft is $800. 21% of victims who were surveyed in 2020 said they had been victimized to the tune of more than $20,000. Victims under the age of 60 are more likely to be targeted, but those over 60 lose more money as a result of identity theft and fraud. Victims under the age of 60 lose an average of $300, while those over 60 lose $1,100 on average.
Credit Card Fraud Frequency
According to Javelin’s findings, identity theft occurs once every 2 seconds. It may seem like a large number of cases all at once, but identity theft occurs frequently, and the types of identity theft and fraud that typically occur are quite easy to grasp.
Credit Card Fraud and Data Breaches
In 2020, 1,108 cases of intentional data breaches were reported, according to the ITRC. A criminal hacked into a secure server and stole information 1,108 times last year. This was down from 1,473 in 2019. While there were numerous agencies that were hacked last year, the U.S. Marshals Service and Amtrak were among the most prominent offenders. This year, 155.8 million Americans had their information inadvertently exposed as a result of poor data security on the Walgreens app and Twitter’s security vulnerabilities. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the world’s cybercrime expenses amounted to $1 trillion in 2020, up from $500 billion in 2018.
The 33%
Almost one-third (33%) of Americans have experienced some sort of identity theft in their lives, according to a recent survey. In contrast, identity theft incidents occur three times as frequently in the United States than in other countries. According to experts, this number may more than double in 2022.
Who is Committing Credit Card Fraud?
A 75.1% male population with an average age of 34 was found in the United States Sentencing report. 38.7% were Black, 31.7% were Hispanic, 24.2% were White, and 5.3% were from other races. According to the 2019 Javelin Strategy & Research report, more than 1 million children in the U.S. were victims of identity theft, and of those, two-thirds were younger than 8 years old.
It also may be a surprise to know that family members were responsible for almost one-fifth of identity fraud cases against minors, most often parents. The cost of repairing the damage is huge. Families paid $540 million out of pocket to fix the problems.
Fraud Based on Generations
Nearly half of Americans (42.6%) reported having their identity stolen and having their credit card information stolen, according to Ascent’s report on American credit card habits. Furthermore, the likelihood of being a victim of credit card fraud increases as people age. Victims are divided into three groups: millennials (33.1%), generation X (37.6%), and baby boomers (42.6%).
Which is Worse?
Shockingly, the latest Atlas VP research reveals that Americans are far more concerned about having their identities hacked (and having to deal with issues like credit card fraud) than they are about being murdered. Data breaches and hacking are contributing to this nervousness in addition to the fact that they are common.