Substantial Numbers of U.S. Adults Taking Steps to Prevent Identity Theft

A recent Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Personal Finance Poll reveals that while relatively few U.S. adults say they have fallen victim to identity theft, substantial numbers have taken specific steps to help prevent it from happening to them. Three in five (60 percent) adults who have had their identity stolen lost money as a result, and while a majority recovered their losses within three months (57 percent), one in five (21 percent) say they have not yet been able to recover their loss.

The poll further explores how much adults trust banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, brokers and retailers to prevent others from accessing their sensitive personal information and account numbers, and what they do when they receive a suspicious e–mail from a financial institution or other company with whom they have an account.

These are some of the results of an online survey of 2,120 U.S. adults conducted by Harris Interactive between May 1 and 3, 2006, for The Wall Street Journal Online's Personal Journal Edition.

Sixteen percent of adults say they have had their credit or debit card used by someone they don't know without their permission. Smaller numbers say their identity was used to open a phone, utility or other type of account (3 percent), their personal information was used for non–financial fraud (2 percent), a mortgage or line of credit they didn't authorize was opened in their name (1 percent) or their identity was stolen and used in some other way (6 percent).

In an effort to help prevent identity theft, about seven in 10 adults say they watch for suspicious activity on their accounts (73 percent), shred mail that contains their account numbers (72 percent), and/or limit access to their Social Security number (69 percent) to prevent identity theft. Other steps taken include checking their credit reports (41 percent), limiting the purchases they make online (30 percent), limiting their online banking transactions (24 percent), and signing up for a credit–monitoring service (8 percent). Some demographic differences exist:

• Those with a college degree or higher are more likely than those with a  high school education or less to watch for suspicious activity on their  accounts (84 percent vs. 66 percent), limit access to their Social Security number (74 percent  vs. 66 percent), and check their credit reports (54 percent vs. 31 percent).
  
  
• Those with annual household incomes of $75,000 or more are more likely than those with household incomes of less than $35,000 to check their credit reports  (53 percent vs. 34 percent).
  
  
• Those ages 18 to 34 are less likely than their older counterparts to watch  for suspicious activity (63 percent vs. 81 percent of 45– to 54–year–olds), shred mail  that has their account numbers (62 percent vs. 78 percent of those aged 55 and over), and  limit access to their Social Security number (60 percent vs. 74 percent of 35– to  44–year–olds and those aged 55 and over).
  

Staying on top of your personal information is a critical element to protecting your assets. Staying on top of your own debt responsibilities is even more important since it is far more likely to negatively affect your life. Bad credit is a ‘wireless fence’ that limits what we can do and how we live unless we have ample cash reserves. Letting bills go unpaid or failing to take the proper steps to dispute a bill (even if it is a result of identity theft) can cause severe impact to your credit rating. If you get a notice from an approved credit agency, contact them, note your objection, make suitable payment arrangements, and them pursue getting your money back through the proper channels. Don’t let “Identity Theft” rob you twice and avoid stealing from yourself by not making appropriate timely arrangements when you have overextended yourself.

SCS Staff