Category: Fraud

Over 157,000 unique phishing messages were sent out around the world in the first half of 2006, an increase of 81% compared to the second half of 2005, Symantec said.

30% of consumers were victims of a data breach during the last 12 months. Less than 1% of those whose data was lost were actually victims of identity fraud. Data breaches were responsible for only 6% of all known cases of identity fraud in both new and existing accounts, Javelyn Research says.

The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) reported that the number of brands hijacked by phishers in July 2006 leapt to a record high of 154, up 20% from June 2006 and more than 12% from the previous high. The APWG’s July report showed a drop in the number of reported phishing campaigns from 28,571 to 23,670, a substantial decreased but still far above the mean of the previous 12 months. At the same time, however, the number of new phishing sites reported rose to a record 14,191, more than 18% higher than the previous high.

Japan reported 1,802 cyber crime cases in the first half of 2006, an 11.8% jump compared to the first half of 2005, the National Police Agency said.

Identity Theft Resource Center and Fellowes, Inc. found that 81% of Americans are aware that identity theft can happen at any time and 65% are using tools to protect themselves. Consistent misperceptions about identity theft crimes and victims cause 50% of Americans to feel vulnerable. The biggest misperception is that Americans believe technology makes them more vulnerable to identity fraud, as nearly 40% of respondents said identity theft is most likely to occur through online exchanges. In reality, online exchanges only represent 9% of the crime, whereas the majority of identity fraud occurs through paper documents and stolen information

In CompUSA TechInsights survey of college students nationwide, nearly 88% of respondents said they keep personal files on their computers. 41%% of the students surveyed weren’t sure or didn’t know what phishing was. 9% admitted they had responded to e-mails asking for information, such as bank account numbers and passwords. 21% of respondents confessed they had given or had been tempted to give sensitive personal information over the Internet when they weren’t confident in the security of the Web site.

Harris Interactive and Wall Street Journal asked Americans regarding their actions when they receive a suspicious e-mail from their bank or financial institution.

What do you do when you receive a suspicious email from a financial institution?
		Education
	Total	High School	Some College	College Grad
Delete it	52	47	48	60
Report it or confirm it with the financial institution	39	31	39	48
Go to the company’s website on my own to check my account	36	30	38	40
Click on the link provided in the email to check my account	3	2	4	4
Other	3	4	3	3
Nothing	3	3	4	2
I have never received emails from a financial institution or other company I have an account with.	17	26	16	9
Source: Harris Interactive

Mean amount lost to identity theft is $1,089, Harris Interactive reports.

Money lost to identity theft
Amount lost	%
$1 – $100	17
$101 – $250	9
$251 – $500	15
$501 – $1,000	9
$1,001 – $2,000	5
$2,001+	6
Mean amount	$1,089
Source: Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive asked Americans about facing identity theft in their past.

How Americans suffered from identity theft
		Income
	Total	<$35K	<$49.9K	<$74.9K	$75K+
My credit card or debit card was used by someone I don’t know without my permission.	16%	12%	17%	14%	22%
My identity was used to open a phone, utility or other type of account.	3	3	3	2	3
My personal information was used for non-financial fraud, such as on tax forms, to gain employment, to obtain healthcare or prescription drugs, to avoid criminal prosecution, or in other ways.	2	1	2	1	2
A mortgage or line of credit I didn’t authorize was opened in my name.	1	1	1	2	1
My identity was stolen and used in some other way.	6	7	4	3	6
None of these	77	79	76	80	70
Source: Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive and Wall Street Journal surveyed Americans on which steps they have taken to prevent identity theft.

Steps taken to prevent identity theft
		Income
	Total	<$35K	<$49.9K	<$74.9K	$75K+
Watch for suspicious activity on accounts	73	64	79	80	78
Shred mail that has my account numbers	72	62	74	77	77
Limit access to my Social Security number	69	66	73	67	68
Check my credit reports	41	34	33	37	53
Limit the purchases I make online	30	31	41	26	24
Limit my online banking transactions	24	22	27	24	21
Signed up for a credit-monitoring service	8	6	6	8	11
Other	5	7	6	3	2
I have not taken any steps to prevent identity theft.	8	12	4	8	5
Source: Harris Interactive

Javelin ranked leading credit card issuers on their online, identity fraud prevention, detection and resolution capabilities.

1. Citibank
2. American Express
3. Bank of America
4. Discover Bank
5. FNB of Omaha
6. HSBC
7. JP Morgan Chase
8. Wells Fargo Bank

According to US Department of Justice, identity theft is costing an estimated $6.4 bln per year. About 3% of all households in the US, totaling an estimated 3.6 mln families, were hit by some sort of ID theft during the first six months of 2004.

46.5% of Americans surveyed by National White Collar Crime Center experienced white collar crime victimization within 2005, and 62.5% reported having personally experienced these crimes at some point during their lifetime. 130 mln Americans, aged 18 and over, have been victimized.

57% of the US businesses said they are losing more money through cybercrime by way of lost income, the loss of current and potential customers, and decreased employee productivity than from conventional crime. 75% of US IT executives surveyed said some of the threat to their corporate security came from inside their own organisations, while 84% believed that criminal hacker groups were increasingly replacing lone hackers as the perpetrators of cybercrime. 58% of chief information officers across international businesses said cybercrime was costing them more than physical crime.

In the second half of 2005, phishing attempts made up one in every 119 processed e-mail messages, according to Symantec. This translates into an average 7.92 mln phishing attempts per day, up from 5.70 mln in the first half of 2005.

The number of people in Japan arrested for fraud and other crimes linked to the Internet jumped almost 52% in 2005 to a record 3,161, National Police Agency says.

The number of phishing Web sites grew by about 65% in December 2005. The Anti-Phishing Working Group reported that although the number of phishing emails fell between November 2005 and December 2005, the number of fraudulent Web sites increased from 4,630 to 7,197, which is a new record.

According to Conference Board survey, 41% are purchasing less online than in 2004, since in 2005 identity theft cost consumers $680 bln.

In 2005, there were 130 major data breeches that exposed the identities of about 53 mln Americans to possible theft, Dow Jones reports.

Javelin data indicates that 87% of consumers monitor their credit reports only once a year or less. Although new account fraud represents only 30% of the $52.6 bln in US annual identity fraud, it remains a primary concern since it is more difficult for consumers to detect and results in higher average per case losses. There is an outstanding opportunity for FIs to enhance loyalty and gain revenue by offering reasonably priced credit monitoring services to this vast majority of inactive consumers.

Identity theft cost US consumers 4% more in 2005 than the $54.4 bln it cost in 2004. The average fraud rose to $6,383 from $5,885. The number of adult Americans who learned that criminals had stolen personal data and used it to commit fraud fell to 8.9 mln, or 4%, from 9.3 mln in 2004 and 10.1 mln in 2003.

75% of respondents to Opinion Research survey are taking measures to protect their data and personal information when they are online because they are afraid of identity theft (43%), loss of money (24%) and harm to how well they score with US credit agencies (13%). 70% of respondents will only use Internet shopping sites that display a security protection seal, while 64% will not conduct online transactions on a shared computer, the survey found. 50% of users don’t use public wireless networks, such as hotspots in airports or coffee shops, 38% don’t bank online and 37% will not use credit card information online.

Some 685,000 consumer complaints on identity theft were filed with FTC in 2005, with victims reporting losses of $680 mln. In 2005, 49 consumers reported losing $1 mln or more during 2005, the FTC said, compared with 42 in 2004. Nearly 14,000 victims said they’d lost over $5,000 to a con artist, a steep jump from just over 11,000 in 2004. Average losses were $2,400 per victim; median losses were $350. In 2004, the average was $1,846 and the median was $263.

The Hispanic adult population increased by 16% in metropolitan markets from 2002 to 2004, while the number of Hispanic college graduates increased by 22%, The Media Audit says. The number of Hispanic college graduates increased by 806,000 from approximately 3.6 mln to 4.4 mln. The 4.4 mln includes more than 1.3 mln with advanced degrees.

63.5% of all college graduates have an annual income of $50,000 or more, while 63.2% of Hispanic college graduates have annual incomes of $50,000 or more. 42.8% of all college graduates have incomes of $75,000 or more, while 41.7% of Hispanic college graduates have incomes of $75,000 or more. 26.7% of all college graduates and 24.1% of Hispanic college graduates have household incomes of $100,000 or more. 11% of all college graduates and 8.4% of Hispanic graduates earn $150,000 or more annually.

25% of Internet users are hit with phishing e-mails. Most think they might be from legitimate companies, and 70% were fooled by the e-mails, according to America Online and the National Cyber Security Alliance.