• 43% of all stolen ID incidents are from stolen wallets, checkbooks and credit/debit cards.
• 25% of the losses were from stolen PIN from ATM cards.
• People who make more than $75,000 per year are more likely to be victims of fraud than those who make less.
• The most likely age range of the victims is 35 to 44 years old.
• Among ethnic groups, Hispanics have the highest rate of fraud victims and then followed by African-Americans, Caucasians and Asians.
• The two states with the highest number of stolen ID frauds are CA and IL, with the lowest incidents in New England and Plains states.
• A most telling statistic is that women were 26% more likely to be fraud victims than men.  According to Javelin Strategy, the reason for this statistic is that more women spend money in retail stores, restaurants, etc and do so more frequently.

What can we do to prevent, or at least lessen, the fraud?

1.  Share only your financial information with known vendors.
2. Be careful to share financial information on social networking sites.
3. Select your IDs and PWs carefully and avoid the most common dates; e.g. birthdates, house/apt. number, etc.
4. Memorize sensitive financial information and store supporting information in a secure location; e.g. safety deposit box, safe, etc.
5. Access your credit report via (www.annualcreditreport.com) once per year at no charge.

If you need more help in understanding the DOs and DON'Ts, please let me hear from you.