Identity Theft Victims Don't Even Know They're Victims?
from the that-only-happens-to-others dept
The threat of identity theft online may be overblown, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be paying attention. However, a new study finds not only that many people figure they're safe "because that only happens to others," but nearly half of the victims didn't even realize they had money stolen. It would be nice if there were more details about this particular study, because it's not all that clear. Do they mean this ~50% had no idea ever? If so, how did the study figure out they had lost money? If it's that they didn't realize it for a certain period of time -- how long are they talking? It's not that surprising that identity theft might take a while to discover for many people. Lots of people don't check their accounts that often, and even those who do so regularly may go a month between statements when they don't check -- allowing a thief to have plenty of free time to steal away.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
So...
So it's a safe assumption that one quarter of the country is blissfully watching NTSC on a $2500 flat panel while checking their BofA balances every 6 months.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It can take a long time
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: It can take a long time
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Identity Theft Expert
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Identity Theft
I write this in hopes that it be the first note ever written on the Internet, encapsulated into a bottle and tossed into the middle of the cyber world ocean of information.
My hope is that you open this bottle, read my book and tell every person, media outlet, politician and US Voter about my story! Jerry Eller of Jerry Eller dot com. PLS FWD
[ link to this | view in chronology ]