2014 saw data theft across the United States reach its peak. The Identity Theft Resource Center reports indicate more than 780 data breaches were witnessed in 2014. This was a substantial increase in the crime compared to the records from the previous years.
The Federal Trade Commission reported 332,646 cases of identity theft complaints the same year. This was definitely up from the 2013 records. The US pays dearly for the implications of fraud. Featuring prominently among these fraud cases is identity theft. Every year many folks across the different US states lose plenty of cash to identity thieves.
Some have argued that identity theft is highly common as a form fraud because of its nature. It is pretty simple to execute in the sense that you get a lot of money yet you run very minimal physical risk. Identity theft is basically a brain game. As long as one has the courage and the skills to impersonate another, they are able to commit the crime.
Victims of identity theft face heavy burdens of bad credit or losses of large sums of money. If your credit card information is stolen, it may be long before you realize what has actually happened. You will most likely be left with a series of bad credit that you have to bear.
Theft of a debit card may be more serious and always results in irreversible losses of money. When a person uses your debit card it is your actual money that they are spending. This explains why you can never recover the loss.
The most common identity theft method in 2014 involved use of fake government documents such as tax filings. Top among the list of states that saw the highest rate of identity theft crimes was the state of Florida.
If you are living in any of the states where identity theft is most common then your card data and other payment details may be at risk. It is recommended that you have chargeback insurance policy to protect you in case you become a victim. This form of insurance relies on the use of fraud filters and helps reduce the risk of loss of profits.