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In
a study released last year, the
Identity Theft Resource
Center made the following discoveries:
 • Fraudulent charges now average more than
$90,000 per name used.
•
Nearly 85% of all victims find out about their identity theft case
in a negative manner. Only
15% of victims find out due to a proactive action taken by a
business.
• The average time spent by victims is about 600 hours
[to resolve their case], an increase
of more than 247% over
previous studies.
• While victims are finding out about their cases earlier,
it is
taking far longer now than before
to eliminate negative information from credit reports.
• A large majority of respondents indicates
the opening of a credit
card (73%) or takeover of a
card account (27%) to be among crimes committed.
• The
emotional impact of identity theft has been found
to parallel
that of victims of violent
crime.
• The
responsiveness toward victims by the various entities with
which they must interact
continues to be lacking in sensitivity in most cases and has not
improved since studies
released in 2000.
(Identity Theft: The Aftermath 2003, page 4.)
The report went into more
detail about time spent on recovering from
identity theft:
"Many respondents were
unable to calculate a total number of hours
spent [on the loss of their identity].
Responses such as, “I have no idea. It has
consumed my life,” “Can’t begin to
estimate,” and “I don’t even know – a lot!!”
are not quantifiable, but demonstrate the
large impact identity theft has on its
victims." (ibid, page
23)
What was the financial
cost for all this lost time?
"The average
associated dollar value for lost time was
$16,971." (ibid,
page 23-24, emphasis in the
original).
Over 7
million Americans have already
suffered from identity theft. (ibid,
page 27)
"According to FBI
statistics, identity theft is currently our
nation’s fastest growing crime."
(view
untitled online report)
"Most
identity theft involves the U.S. Mail." (USPS Publication 280)
We at Brick Mailbox Manufacturing are dedicated to doing our part in
protecting your mail. We are serious about providing you a safe, secure and beautiful
new brick, stone or stucco mailbox.
Please
contact us if we
can be of service to you or someone you
know. |