Identity Theft in America: How Many People Are Affected? [Survey]

Identity theft affects millions of people in the U.S. every year. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports that consumers lost more than $10 billion to fraud in 2023, the highest losses ever recorded, with identity theft making up a significant chunk of that total.

In total, the FTC reports that more than 1.8 million Americans are affected by identity theft each year. From compromised accounts to the loss of life savings, the effects of ID theft are wide-ranging and impact individuals in a variety of ways.

But how common is identity theft, and how do people recover from it?

To find out, the All About Cookies team surveyed 1,000 people to discover if they’ve ever had their identity stolen, how their identity was compromised, how long it took them to recover, and more.

Key findings

• Identity theft is ubiquitous: 46% of people know someone close to them who has had their identity stolen, including 14% who have had their own identity stolen.
• Victims report identity theft has cost them $3,312.66 on average — a $560.66 increase from 2023.
• 42% of ID theft victims only found out they were impacted by discovering missing money or unusual charges on their accounts.
• More than a quarter of identity theft victims don’t know how thieves acquired their data.
• 50% of victims were able to resolve their identity theft issues in under a month, but 23% said they are still actively dealing with the repercussions today.

States where identity theft is increasing

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly 24 million people in the United States had their identity stolen in 2021 alone, with victims losing billions of dollars as a result. Another government entity, the FTC, has received millions of identity theft complaints in recent years, from victims all over the country.

While identity theft is a problem for people in all 50 states, comparing the last two years’ worth of FTC reports makes it possible to pinpoint the states where the problem is getting worse.

Last year, instances of identity theft rose the most in Connecticut, increasing by 68% compared to the year prior. Nearby Massachusetts saw the second-largest jump, as identity theft reports rose by 55% in the Bay State. Iowa (+44%), Nebraska (+30%), and South Dakota (+24%) round out the top five.

How common is identity theft?

Identity theft is a problem that claims millions of victims every single year. A report published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 12% of all people over the age of 16 were alerted that their identity had been stolen in that year alone.

With so many people falling victim to identity thieves annually, it would come as no surprise if the overall percentage of the population that has had their identity stolen at some point in their lives would be quite high. Based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by All About Cookies, that appears to be the case.

46% of people know someone in their personal lives who’s had their identity stolen before. That includes nearly one in five people (19%) who say a friend has had their identity stolen, and 16% who have an immediate family member (such as a parent, sibling, or child) that has fallen victim. Additionally, 14% of survey respondents said that they themselves have had their identity stolen in the past.

Top methods identity thieves use to get victim information

Getting first-hand information directly from identity theft victims can help draw a clearer picture of the crime, including how identities get stolen, what thieves use stolen IDs for, and more.

Among surveyed victims of identity theft, the number one way criminals gained access to their data was through a data breach online, something that nearly two in five victims (38%) cited as a way that their identity was stolen.

Other methods that identity thieves utilize most often include stealing a credit card (16%) or official document such as a driver’s license (13%), while more than 10% of victims said that tech-based crimes such as phishing through email or text messages, hacking a social media account, or a data-capturing device such as a credit card skimmer were used against them.

Alarmingly, 27% of identity theft victims said that they actually don’t know how their identity was stolen. That means more than a quarter of people who’ve had to deal with the consequences of identity theft aren’t aware of what they need to do or change in order to prevent their information from being stolen again through the same methods as their initial incident.

Ways identity thieves use stolen identities

Once a criminal gains access to someone else’s information, there are a huge number of ways that they can use that data to benefit themselves and shift the costs and consequences onto their victim.

The FTC warns of some of the most common ways thieves use stolen identities, including opening credit card accounts in their victim’s name and stealing tax refunds.

The crimes cited in that government warning align with the actual experiences of many identity theft victims, as the number one thing that victims said their stolen identity was used for was opening new accounts, something that happened to 45% of victims.

An additional 42% said that identity thieves used their stolen data to take money from victims’ financial accounts, while one-fifth of victims reported that criminals took out loans in their name using a stolen identity.

Most identity theft victims discover the crime thanks to monitoring

Identity theft can be difficult to detect, especially in the immediate wake of the crime. However, the United States Government and identity theft experts have outlined a number of signs to look for that can help victims determine if their data has been compromised.

We asked how the victims of identity theft discovered the breach to see what tipped them off that something was wrong.

Credit or identity monitoring (something that 50% of identity theft victims said they subscribed to at the time their identity was stolen) are the most common ways that identity theft victims discovered their data had been stolen, with nearly half of victims (46%) saying they received an alert after their identity was stolen.

That number does not tell the whole story, however, as a deeper dive into the data reveals a major split among those who actively subscribed to identity theft monitoring at the time of their incident compared to those who didn’t. 71% of victims who chose to subscribe to an ID theft monitoring service when their identity was stolen were alerted to the theft by a monitoring service, while only 20% of those who receive monitoring from other means said the same.

In addition, 42% of victims said they were tipped off when they noticed money missing from their financial accounts. That, plus monitoring services, were the top two ways people became aware that their identity had been stolen, and by a wide margin. No other method of alert was selected by even half as many victims.

Average time it takes for victims to discover their identity was stolen

When someone has their identity stolen, time is of the essence if they want to minimize or reverse the damage done by identity thieves. The longer the crime goes undetected, the longer criminals can take advantage of their ill-gotten data.

Thankfully the majority of identity theft victims (51%) said that they became aware of the crime within two weeks of the theft occurring. That includes more than a third of all victims (36%) who found out in a week or less.

While it’s good that more than half of identity theft victims detect the crime early on, there are still many people who do not realize their data has been stolen until well after the fact. 11% of victims said that criminals had their information for six months or more before they discovered the theft, and nearly half of that cohort reported a full year went by before they became aware of the problem.

Average time to recover from identity theft

Detection is the first step on the road to recovery, which can be a lengthy process depending on how much damage criminals were able to do with a victim’s identity before they were detected.

Once they realized their identity was compromised, we asked identity theft victims how long it took to recover from the negative consequences.

While more than 50% of victims figured out their identity had been stolen within two weeks, only 33% were able to recover from the theft in that same amount of time. While recovery does appear to take longer than detection in general, nearly three-quarters of victims (72%) claim they were able to fully make up for any financial losses and other consequences of having their identity stolen within a year.

While those numbers are encouraging for people who actually know what to do in order to recover, not all victims are so lucky. Nearly a quarter of people who have had their data stolen in the past (23%) say that as of present they still haven’t recovered from the crime and are actively working to undo the damage done by criminals.

Keeping your identity safe

Identity theft is a problem that isn’t going away anytime soon, and identity thieves are working on creating and perfecting new techniques to steal data all the time. That’s why taking steps to pre-emptively protect yourself and your data is crucial, something that about half of the population feels they are not doing well enough.

For anyone looking for tips on how to better protect themselves against the dangers of identity theft, there are a number of resources and guides available from federal and local government agencies. Additionally, All About Cookies has a number of resources available including:

• A hub covering all things identity theft, including how-to guides for protecting your data and product reviews of services and software that can help keep data secure.
• Articles explaining how to beef up data security using things like authenticator apps and password managers.
• Tips about what personally identifiable information is (and how to keep it safe) as well as how you can remove personal information from Google.

Methodology

All About Cookies surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults in October 2024. Only respondents who indicated that they have personally had their identity stolen were asked to answer specific questions relating to the experience of dealing with identity theft.

Data on changes in the frequency of identity theft in every state via the Federal Trade Commission’s 2022 and 2023 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Books.