The Cost of Identity Theft

Last year, according to www.fightidentitytheft.com, 11.1 million people were victims of identity theft, with a grand total cost of $54 billion. In addition to robbing people of money, damaging credit, identity theft simply creates a lot of headaches for victims and their financial institutes.

If you've been the victim of identity theft, you know the hassle of trying to follow the trail of financial destruction that an identity-burglar leaves behind. Some of the financial impact may be washed away if you take precautionary steps prior to falling victim or report the situation in a timely fashion. But the headache of filing fraud alerts and reviewing credit reports and the tedious details involved in protecting your bank accounts, hard earned money, and your name! OH! It's overwhelming!

Identity theft, as previously mentioned, totals $54 billion per year. On average, each case of theft ranges between $5000 – 6500 and in roughly 32% of victims are left paying the debt though they didn't incur it or at least, incurring out of pocket expenses due to the theft. Also, in 2006, it was estimated that victims must spend up to 40 hours trying to resolve the matter of identity theft.

This week, our Facebook page is exploring the costs associated with identity theft and steps you can take to protect yourself. Stay tuned for more details!