Facts + Statistics: Identity theft and cybercrime

The scope of identity theft

According to 2018 Identity Fraud: Fraud Enters a New Era of Complexity from Javelin Strategy & Research, in 2017, there were 16.7 million victims of identity fraud, a record high that followed a previous record the year before. Criminals are engaging in complex identity fraud schemes that are leaving record numbers of victims in their wake. The amount stolen hit $16.8 billion last year as 30 percent of U.S. consumers were notified of a data breach last year, an increase of 12 percent from 2016. For the first time, more Social Security numbers were exposed than credit card numbers.

Following the introduction of microchip equipped credit cards in 2015 in the United States, which make the cards difficult to counterfeit, criminals focused on new account fraud. New account fraud occurs when a thief opens a credit card or other financial account using a victim’s name and other stolen personal information. According to the Javelin study, account takeovers tripled in 2017 from 2016, and losses totaled $5.1 billion.

Identity theft and fraud complaints

The Consumer Sentinel Network, maintained by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), tracks consumer fraud and identity theft complaints that have been filed with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and private organizations. Of the 2.7 million identity theft and fraud reports received in 2017, 1.1 million were fraud-related, costing consumers almost $905 million. The median amount consumers paid in these cases was $429. Within the fraud category, imposter scams were the most reported and ranked first among the top 10 fraud categories identified by the FTC. They accounted for $328 million in losses. In 2017, 14 percent of all complaints were related to identity theft. Identity theft complaints were the third most reported to the FTC and had increased almost 70 percent from 2013 to 2015 but fell about 24 percent from 2015 to 2017. Credit card fraud were the most reported to the Consumer Sentinel Network, with 133,000 reports.

Identity Theft And Fraud Reports, 2014-2017 (1)

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(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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Cybercrime

Interest in cyber insurance and cyberrisk continues to grow as a result of high-profile data breaches and awareness of the almost endless range of exposure businesses face. In 2018 through November, 340 million records were exposed in June from Exactis, a marketing firm; 150 million records exposed at Under Armor; 92 million at MyHeritage, a genealogy firm; and 87 million records at Facebook. In 2017, the largest U.S. credit bureau, Equifax, suffered a breach that exposed the personal data of 145 million people, including Social Security numbers. It was among the worst breaches on record because of the amount of sensitive information stolen.

McAfee and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated the likely annual cost to the global economy from cybercrime is $445 billion a year, with a range of between $375 billion and $575 billion.

In 2018 the IRTC tracked 932 breaches through the month of September. The number of records exposed totaled 47.2 million. The business category continues to be the most affected sector, with 432 breaches, or 46 percent of all breaches detected. The business sector breaches affected 22.1 million records, or 47 percent of all records affected. The IRTC noted that in September alone, hacking was the primary type of breach incident, accounting for 46 percent of all breaches in September. Unauthorized access was identified as the second most common type of attack, accounting for 30 percent of September breaches. According to the IRTC phishing was the most common form of hacking for September, representing 50 percent of the total breaches caused by hacking. Ransomware/malware represented 15 percent of breaches categorized as hacking in September.

The costs of cybercrime are growing. The average cost of data breach globally was $3.86 million in 2018, up 6.4 percent from $3.62 million in 2017, according to a study from IBM and the Ponemon Institute. Researchers polled 477 organizations to determine what costs they incurred after a data breach, including systems to help victims with losses and expenses, notification costs and lost business costs such as those associated with business disruption, revenue losses and reputation costs. The study also found that the average cost for each lost record rose 4.8 percent in 2018 from $141 to $148 and the average size of data breaches studied rose by 2.2 percent. In the United States, the average cost of a data breach was $7.91 million. The United States had the highest post data breach response costs, $1.76 million.

Cyber insurance evolved as a product in the United States in the mid- to late-1990s as insurers have had to expand coverage for a risk that is rapidly shifting in scope and nature. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, 140 U.S. insurers reported writing some cyber insurance premiums in 2016, based on the Cybersecurity and Identity Theft Coverage Supplement for insurer financial statements. Direct premiums written totaled $1.86 billion in 2017, at companies that can report premiums for stand-alone and coverage provided as part of a package policies.

According to the Insurance Information Institute’s 2017 report, Protecting against #cyberfail: Small business and cyber insurance, insurers foresee substantial growth coming from the small business segment, as these companies become aware of the possibilities of liability, especially due to a breach and the resulting response costs arising out of the possession of private data. According to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) and J.D. Power 2018 Small Business Cyber Insurance and Security Spotlight Survey^SM, 10 percent of small businesses surveyed suffered one or more cyber incidents in the prior year, and the average cost of cyber-related losses over the past year was $188,400. Only about one-third of firms surveyed had cyber insurance, nearly 60 percent of respondents said their company is very concerned about cyber incidents–and 70 percent think that the risk of being victimized by a cyberattack is growing at an alarming rate. Insurers can reach these potential small business customers through education, training and risk assessment services regarding cybersecurity.

Number Of Data Breaches And Records Exposed, 2008-2017 (1)

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(1) As of January 22, 2018.

Source: Identity Theft Resource Center.

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The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a joint project of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National White Collar Crime Center and the Bureau of Justice Assistance monitors Internet-related criminal complaints. In 2017 the IC3 received and processed 301,580 complaints. One out of five victims (21.2 percent) were over the age of 60, the most victims by age. People between the ages of 30 and 39 ranked second at 19.4 percent, followed by victims between the ages of 40 and 49 with 19.2 percent. Victim losses totaled $1.42 billion. The most common complaints received in 2017 involved nonpayment or nondelivery of goods or services, which affected about 84,000 victims. There were about 31,000 victims affected by personal data breaches. Identity theft—where a person’s name or Social Security number is used without permission, affected about 18,000 victims.

Cybercrime Complaints, 2013-2017 (1)

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(1) Based on complaints submitted to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Source: Internet Crime Complaint Center.

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Additional resources

Federal Trade Commission

Internet Crime Complaint Center