New report highlights emotional toll of identity theft on consumers

A new report by the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) sheds light on the emotional toll of identity theft and it explains why the losses extend well beyond the financial.

The center conducted its annual report on the consumer impact of identity crime, focusing on the rate of victims who contemplated suicide. The numbers it found were staggering.

More than $12.5 billion was lost last year to fraud and identity theft, according to the Federal Trade Commission, but the dollars lost aren’t the only casualties of the crime.

“I think in our minds we think that when it’s a financial crime and not a physical, violent crime that it just doesn’t have the same impact on someone, on their life and their emotions, but it absolutely does and the data in this report proves that,” said Eva Velasquez, the CEO of the ITRC.

Of those identity theft victims surveyed by the Identity Theft Resource Center, 25% or one in four considered suicide, 71% of victims reported being re-victimized by cyber criminals, 14% applied for loans or credit cards while being targeted by thieves and 35% reported the theft occurring through a social media takeover.

For Velasquez, the most concerning statistic is the rate of suicidal thoughts.

“People feel vulnerable, they feel angry, and they lose their sense of trust,” she said.

The number of victims contemplating suicide is up 20% points from last year. Velasquez believes thieves are successfully stealing larger amounts of money, with 19% of respondents losing between $100,000 and $1 million.

“The amount of money that an individual loses in a single event is continuing to grow exponentially,” she said. “I remember a time when I was doing this work, when someone would report they lost $10,000, it would take my breath away and now we have people reporting over $1 million and those percentages inch up every year.”

Velasquez reminds people that losses are relative depending on their financial situation.

The silver lining of this study is that those victims who turned to the non-profit for help have much lower rates of suicidal thoughts and re-victimization, meaning victims are better off if they get professional help. The ITRC counsels identity crime victims for free.