Credit Card Identity Theft - The Statistics are Shocking!
Credit Card Identity Theft - The Statistics are Shocking!
Credit card identity theft has boomed into a huge problem around the world. Each year there are millions of people that are affected by this issue. Even if you have never had your information stolen and been personally affected you are still paying for the costs of theft; card companies try to offset the costs of stolen credit cards and information through the interest rates that card owners have to pay.
After you realize how prominent credit card identity theft is and understand the costs associated with card theft you may be more interested in learning how to take protective measures to ensure that this does not happen to you.
Companies that advertise their credit reporting services aimed at protecting your information spend time and money each year to research the effects of credit card identity theft. Regulatory authorities and business bureaus also research the costs and effects of this increasingly severe issue.
Each year some form of personal information theft affects over 9 million victims in the United States alone. This means that there is a higher probability than ever of something like this happening to you or someone you know if they are not properly protected.
Another shocking statistic of credit card identity theft is the fact that it takes on average approximately six hundred hours for individuals to recover from identity theft crimes. This means that even though some occurrences can be recovered from easily, by simply cancelling the card, there are so many more than can make a complete mess for the individuals that have become victims. If an identity thief manages to damage your credit it can take many years to completely recover from this kind of crime.
There are so many more shocking statistics associated with credit card identity theft but one that really stands out is the fact that more than 75% of individuals who are victims of this kind of crime do not realize that they have been victimized until they are notified after an adverse situation. This means that most people will not realize that their information has been stolen until a card has been declined or they receive collection notices from agencies over charges that they never made.
With all of the possible preventive measures that individuals can take there is no reason that they should let the theft of their information get this out hand.