Identity Theft Soars for Twentysomethings
As our lives become increasingly digitized, the chances of someone's stealing our identity grows. Now, instead of digging through someone's trash for sensitive information, it's infinitely easier to, say, send a phishing e-mail and scam the info out of victims. Unfortunately, the FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network report (PDF) shows that not only is identity theft rising, but it's also hitting one of the most financially vulnerable age groups: the right-out-of-college 20- to 29-year old demographic.
Last year alone, there were 313,982 identity theft complaints, up from 259,266 in 2007. To give you some perspective, in 2000, the number of complaints was 31,140 -- roughly ten times less than 2008. According to the report, e-mail was the most common method for contacting consumers, with 193,817 instances making up 52-percent of the total. The next most common method was standard mail at a paltry 14-percent.
The target demographics for identity theft have remained almost exactly the same over the past three years. In 2006, the 20-29 age group made up 25-percent of the complaints, while the 30-39 age group made up 23-percent. In 2007, the two groups were at 24-percent and 23-percent, respectively, and, in 2008, at 24-percent and 23-percent. Clearly the thieves are targeting those with expendable income and with less experience in dealing with such scams.
These are scary times, and we can't emphasize enough how important security is. With leaked medical records becoming more common, and security firms being hacked, please excuse us while we beat a dead horse. Use common sense when responding to e-mails. [From: CNET]
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