Insurance...for Identity Theft? A study by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) discovered that 8.3 million Americans in 2005 were victims of identity theft. That number is on the rise as criminals are becoming more sophisticated. In more than half the incidents, cyber-criminals only managed to defraud or steal $500 or less in goods or services before they were discovered and shut down, but in a tenth of cases, they made off with $6,000 or more.
What's scarier? Fifty-six percent of all accounted victims claimed not to know HOW their personal information was taken. ID thieves impersonate the victim, stealing from bank accounts outright, creating sham insurance policies, opening credit cards (and maxing them) and getting bank loans in the victim's name.