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Nine Things You Didn’t Know About Your Local Identity Thief

Most of us know somebody who’s fallen victim to identity theft. But we know next to nothing about all of the thieves.

A report from the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection at Utica College turns the lens on the perps. Out this week, the survey examines completed U.S. Secret Service investigations for patterns.

Some highlights:

They’re Not (Just) Bad Guys: One-third of the offenders were female.

A Lot Of Them Are Cowards: A good chunk of the offenders (42.4%) worked in groups.

It’s Not Always Personal: Only 34.3% of victims in this study were individual people. The rest are primarily financial-services companies (37.1%) and retail establishments (21.3%). This may have to do with the fact that the Secret Service sees more (big) cases from businesses than your local police precinct might.

Mr. Rogers Was Right About Strangers: Most victims (59%) didn’t know the crooks. But 10% had a customer/client relationship with the thieves and 5% were family members. Note: parents and relatives tend to rip you off for smaller amounts than the sort that would interest Secret Service investigators, so the number might be a bit higher than 5% overall.

Want a Social Security Number With That Burger?: In cases where defendants stole personal data from their place of employment, 59.7% of the thefts happened at retail locations (including hospitals and doctors’ offices).

They Want Your Visa More Than Your Cash: The goal of identity thieves? To obtain and use credit (45.3%) followed by getting cash (33%).

They’re New At This: Seventy-one percent of the thieves had no previous arrests. Either they’re not your stereotypical repeat ruffians or…

They Can Be a Huge Pain to Punish: If you choose to chase an identity thief, know that almost one-third (29.4%) of all cases took two years or more to resolve.

And They’re Incredible Overachievers: The median loss for thefts in this survey was an astounding $31,356. Again, that may be thanks in part to the fact that the Secret Service hunts big game. Though people might make fun of me for being paranoid about identity theft, I can sure think of lots of things I’d rather be doing than having to sic the Feds on the $31,000 that used to be mine.

One of the best ways to prevent identity theft is with a credit freeze. Soon, everyone will have access to one.

See why Washington Mutual is the only bank to let you see your credit score for free.

And discover how one clueless employee inadvertently gave away thousands of social security numbers.

– Mary Pilon

Photo: Flickr