Another depressing fact about middle age: Identity Theft

Here is a part of middle age you probably weren't expecting, identity theft. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the average age of consumers reporting an identity theft complaint is 41 years. Of course, identity theft isn't that age specific and there are more victims under 40 than over. The good news, if you want to call it that, is that despite the perception of elderly people being victims, only 9.5% of reported victims of identity theft are over 61. Whether this is because they are not as targeted or because they are simply more careful is not known. The important thing however is that your 40s are generally considered your primary earning years and an unfortunate side effect of this that unsavory individuals would love to get a part of what you are working so hard to make.

Some other interesting facts:

Almost one fifth of victims had some sort of relationship with the perpetrator with 50% of these (10% of the total) being a family member.

The average amount of time between the date the identity theft occurred and the date it was noticed by the victim was 14 months.

Approximately 9 million people a year are victims of identity theft with the average amount of just over six thousand dollars.

Despite all of the attention of fraud online, the most common source of identity theft is a lost or stolen wallet, checkbook, and/or credit cards.

Shredding sensitive documents at home is working and has reduced this as a source of fraud to under 1 percent.

Important contact information for you:

Identity Theft Toll-Free Hotline - 877-IDTHEFT (877-438-4338)

http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft

Review your credit information regularly (free annual reports are available at www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228).

Source of information: FTC Handout (PDF)