Javelin finds ID theft on the decline

As Ripley would say, “believe it or not.” Despite a common belief that identity fraud is what legitimate businessmen call a growth industry, the crime is actually on the decrease in the United States. So reports Javelin Strategy & Research, which found a 12 percent decline this year in the overall cost of identity fraud, from approximetly $50 billion to $45 billion. In addition, Javelin observed that there were 500,000 fewer victims from one year to the next. “ID fraud is down,” said Javelin’s James VanDyke. “It hasn’t been growing for several years, but we hadn’t seen it drop.”

Because most identity fraud involves credit cards, which are easily stolen and used on the Internet — mail theft accounts for 9 percent of all identity thefts — improved antifraud practices have had the biggest effect in decreasing the overall rate. “Businesses are doing a better job of not granting new accounts [to criminals],” said VanDyke, while consumers have becoming ever more aware of suspicious phishing techniques and vigilent about monitoring their online banking activities. Most interestingly, however, was that young adults — who are typically the most technology savvy — were in fact at a greater risk of ID theft than previously understood. The cause? Typically teenage boneheadedness, it seems, regarding the oft-reported security risks caused by social networking and illegal music downloading sites “They’re being haphazard and as a result, they’re being victimized,” said VanDyke. “They’re not protecting their PCs with antivirus software and firewalls.”

Methodology note: Close readers may recall our report from last year regarding a Gartner study that found that identity theft was on the rise. Why the discrepency? According to Javelin, Gartner’s survey did not include the thirty percent of Americans who do not use the internet.

-read more in Rovert McMillan’s IDG News Service report