Facts + Statistics: Identity theft and cybercrime

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Key Facts

  • The Identity Theft Research Center (ITRC) reports a record number of data compromises in the U.S. in 2021, amount to a 68 percent increase over 2020.  
  • The insurance industry was the most frequent target of ransomware attacks in the first half of 2021, accounting for almost 25 percent of all ransomware attacks on Accenture’s clients. Consumer goods and services, and telecommunications ranked second and third, according to Accenture.  
  • According to the Aite-Novarica Group, 47 percent of Americans experienced financial identity theft in 2020.  
  • The 2021 Cost of a Data Breach Report, a global study sponsored by IBM Security and conducted by the Ponemon Institute, stated the average data breach cost rose from $3.86 million in 2020 to $4.24 million in 2021.  
  • According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report 2021, a record 847,376 complaints of cyber-crime were reported to the FBI by the public, a 7 percent increase from 2020.  
  • The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network took in over 5.7 million reports in 2021 of which 49 percent were for fraud, and 25 percent for identity theft.  

Identity theft and fraud complaints

Identity Theft And Fraud Reports, 2017-2021 (1)

 

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Identity Theft And Fraud Reports, 2017-2021 (1)

(1) Percentages are based on the total number of Consumer Sentinel Network reports by calendar year. These figures exclude "Do Not Call" registry complaints.

Source: Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Sentinel Network.

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Top Five Types of Identity Theft, 2021 (1)

 

Type of identity theft Number of reports Percent of total top five
Government benefits applied for/received 385,264 31.0%
Credit card fraud—new accounts 363,092 29.2
Miscellaneous identity theft (2) 300,244 24.1
Business/personal loan 105,711 8.5
Tax fraud 89,649 7.2
Total, top five 1,243,960 100.0%

(1) Consumers can report multiple types of identity theft. In 2021, 14 percent of identity theft reports included more than one type of identity theft.
(2) Includes online shopping and payment account fraud, email and social media fraud, and medical services, insurance and securities account fraud, and other identity theft.

Source: Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Sentinel Network.

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Identity Theft By State, 2021 (1)

 

State Reports per
100,000
population (2)		 Number of
reports		 Rank (3) State Reports per
100,000
population (2)		 Number of
reports		 Rank (3)
Alabama 1,217 59,669 7 Montana 806 8,612 41
Alaska 1,156 8,458 11 Nebraska 697 13,475 48
Arizona 1,065 77,534 20 Nevada 1,407 43,339 5
Arkansas 801 24,176 43 New Hampshire 914 12,429 29
California 991 391,517 23 New Jersey 1,107 98,316 14
Colorado 1,119 64,464 13 New Mexico 888 18,613 31
Connecticut 917 32,686 28 New York 1,083 210,749 16
Delaware 1,410 13,726 4 North Carolina 1,036 108,698 21
D.C. 1,701 12,004 1 North Dakota 608 4,637 50
Florida 1,370 294,328 6 Ohio 976 114,140 25
Georgia 1,421 150,898 2 Oklahoma 783 30,996 46
Hawaii 851 12,051 34 Oregon 970 40,908 26
Idaho 809 14,464 39 Pennsylvania 1,205 154,313 8
Illinois 1,078 136,640 18 Puerto Rico 260 8,315 52
Indiana 861 57,988 33 Rhode Island 1,066 11,289 19
Iowa 636 20,071 49 South Carolina 1,149 59,177 12
Kansas 845 24,615 36 South Dakota 549 4,854 51
Kentucky 796 35,544 45 Tennessee 1,157 79,012 10
Louisiana 1,193 55,456 9 Texas 1,080 313,044 17
Maine 821 11,035 38 Utah 823 26,373 37
Maryland 1,415 85,568 3 Vermont 848 5,292 35
Massachusetts 980 67,515 24 Virginia 1,099 93,763 15
Michigan 881 87,996 32 Washington 1,013 77,128 22
Minnesota 809 45,599 40 West Virginia 797 14,287 44
Mississippi 906 26,958 30 Wisconsin 803 46,755 42
Missouri 953 58,485 27 Wyoming 731 4,230 47

(1) Includes the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
(2) Population figures are based on the 2019 U.S. Census population estimates.
(3) Ranked per complaints per 100,000 population. States with the same number of complaints per 100,000 population receive the same rank.

Source: Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Sentinel Network.

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See also the Identity Theft section of our website Click here.

Top 10 Writers Of Identity Theft Insurance By Direct Premiums Written, 2021 (1)

($000)

Rank Group/company Direct premiums written (2) As a percent of
total direct
premiums written
1 State Farm   $33,885 14.0%
2 Nationwide Mutual Group 33,141 13.7
3 Travelers Companies Inc. 25,093 10.4
4 Hanover Insurance Group Inc. 14,503 6.0
5 Liberty Mutual 13,339 5.5
6 Farmers Insurance Group of Companies 10,804 4.5
7 American Family Insurance Group 10,360 4.3
8 Allstate Corp. 10,232 4.2
9 Erie Insurance Group 9,482 3.9
10 Mercury General Corp. 5,779 2.4

(1) Includes stand-alone policies and the identity theft portion of package policies. Does not include premiums from companies that cannot
report premiums for identity theft coverage provided as part of package policies.
(2) Before reinsurance transactions.

Source: NAIC data, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Information Institute.

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Cybercrime

 

 

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Top 10 States By Number Of Cybercrime Victims And By Losses, 2021 (1)

 

Rank State Number Rank State Losses ($ millions)
1 California 67,095 1 California $1,228.0
2 Florida 45,855 2 Texas 606.2
3 Texas 41,148 3 New York 560.0
4 New York 29,065 4 Florida 528.6
5 Illinois 17,999 5 Pennsylvania 207.0
6 Nevada 17,706 6 New Jersey 203.5
7 Ohio 17,510 7 Illinois 184.9
8 Pennsylvania 17,262 8 Michigan 181.6
9 Washington 13,903 9 Virginia 172.8
10 New Jersey 12,817 10 Washington 157.5

(1) Based on the total number of complaints submitted to the Internet Crime Complaint Center via its website from each state where the complainant provided state information.

Source: Internet Crime Complaint Center.

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Top 10 Writers Of Cybersecurity Insurance By Direct Premiums Written, 2021 (1)

($000)

Rank Group/company Direct premiums written (2) As a percent of
total direct
premiums written
1 Chubb Ltd. $473,073 9.8%
2 Fairfax Financial Holdings 436,448 9.0
3 AXA XL 421,014 8.7
4 Tokio Marine 249,785 5.2
5 American International Group (AIG) 240,614 5.0
6 Travelers Companies Inc. 232,277 4.8
7 Beazley Plc 200,878 4.2
8 CNA Financial Corp. 181,383 3.8
9 Arch Capital 171,226 3.5
10 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. 159,059 3.3

(1) Includes stand-alone policies and the cybersecurity portion of package policies. Does not include premiums from companies that cannot report premiums for cybersecurity coverage provided as part of package policies.
(2) Before reinsurance transactions.

Source: NAIC data, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Information Institute.

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Additional resources

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