One in Ten in UK “Victim of ID Crimes”

Nearly one in 10 people in UK believe they have fallen victim to identity fraud, according to a survey of 2,200 adults by YouGov.

People aged under 30 are most prone to falling victim because they are the poorest at protecting personal details, the survey suggests.

Two-thirds in these groups admitted to giving a PIN or bank details to friends and family and 28% did not know a utility bill could be used in ID crime.

The most recent government estimates put the total cost to the UK of identity fraud at £1.7bn a year.

And according to CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service, identity theft has risen over five-fold from 20,000 cases in 1999 to 137,000 in 2005.
via BBC
Even though the survey was conducted in UK, I suspect the data will be similar, if not worse, for US. And the best way to prevent it, believe it or not, is simple education in the ways of internet. Someday I will probably start a course on this.