How Do Americans Feel About Identity Theft?

Concerned about identity theft? So are we.

By Joshlin Sheridan , Marketing —

Recently, the media has reported numerous accounts of online security breaches and identity theft. It’s no surprise that this alarms many Americans. In fact, 48 percent of US adults think it’s somewhat likely that identity theft could result in personal financial losses in the next year. A telephone survey of over one thousand Americans in 2017 conducted by the Harris Poll for the American Institute of CPAs reveals some further insight into what Americans think about identity theft and what they are doing about it.

“Survey Says…”

On a positive note, the survey results showed that many Americans (at least four out of five) are taking steps to protect their identities. These activities include the 56 percent who report self-monitoring credit and debit cards for fraudulent activity and the 61 percent that check their credit report.
However, some of the statistics are more concerning. For example, 35 percent of Americans have never even checked their credit report and that percentage is even higher, 44 percent, for Americans who have a household income of under $35,000. There seems to be a discrepancy between the concerns that many Americans have about identity theft and the steps being taken to avoid it.
This concern for identity protection needs to happen on a personal level, as well as for online services, such as financial institutions.

IdentityDetect Serves a Variety of Industries

IdentityDetect™ is a new solution to combat the growing risk of identity theft in online institutions. It is a three-minute online identity verification test that uses a machine-learning system to determine the credibility of individuals providing identity-related information. This online test can help banks and other financial institutions verify the identity of current or prospective customers. This identity verification service technology could also be used in other industries such as immigration, dating websites, or driver’s license applications.

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Photo by / Ludovic Gauthier