Survey Indicates ID Theft May Be Diminishing

Posted by Zonk on Thursday February 1, 2007 @09:49AM from the we-can-only-hope dept.

netbuzz passed us a link discussing a survey conducted by major credit firms. Keeping in mind the source (CheckFree, Visa, and WellsFargo), the results indicate identity theft may be on the downswing as consumers wise up to scammers. The number of respondents that reported a fraudulent account created with a stolen identity dropped by a full half percentage point between 2005 and 2006. Overall fraud apparently dropped by some 12% over last year, representing $6.4 billion in fraud reduction. Again, consider the source: identity fraud is still apparently costing some $49.3 billion annually.

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It still needs fixin by tribentwrks · 2007-02-01 10:54 · Score: 4, Interesting

I'm dealing with identity theft right now, but somebody elses. A Guy with a SS# 1 digit off from mine got his ID stolen, but it's showing up on my credit report. Should be easy to clean up, right? Nope. Have do the same exact steps -- wasted hours on phone calls, faxes, and police reports to prove that bad credit under a different name, address, AND social security number is really not my bad credit.

If you're wise, you will take advantage of the free credit reports, and get yours checked at least once a year.