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Identity Theft Survey Report 2003 - New accounts opened by identity thieves. · Among Identity Theft victims, 17% said the thief used the victim’s personal information to
open at least one new account, such as new credit card accounts, new loans, new
telephone service accounts, or some other new account.
· The most common new account obtained by the identity thief was a new credit card
account. 8% of all victims – almost half of those whose personal information was used to
open one or more new accounts – said that their information was used to open new credit
card accounts.
· 5% of all victims – approximately one-third of those who said that their personal information
was used to open new accounts – reported that the thief had obtained new loans using their
information.
· 5% of all victims also said that their information had been used to obtain new telephone
service – either wireless service or traditional landline.
· New checking or savings accounts were obtained using the personal information of 3% of
all victims – approximately one-fifth of those who had new accounts opened.
· New accounts were opened in less than 10% of cases when it took victims less than a
month to discover that their information was being misused. New accounts were opened in
45% of cases when 6 months or more elapsed before the misuse was discovered. At least
in part, this result may reflect the fact that quickly discovering that a new account has been
created in a person’s name may be more difficult than discovering that an existing account
is being misused. It may also suggest the likelihood that quick discovery reduces the risk
that new accounts will be opened.
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