The number of people falling victim to identity fraud in the US last year increased by 22% to 9.9 million adults, according to an annual study by Javelin Strategy & Research.
The rise in victims led to a seven per cent increase in the total annual fraud amount lost to $48 billion.
However, the report found detection and resolution efforts having an impact, with consumers and businesses detecting and resolving fraud more quickly. As a result the mean consumer costs of identity fraud plummeted by 31% to $496 per incident in 2008.
The study also found that women were 26% more likely to be victims of identity fraud than men this past year.
James Van Dyke, president and founder of Javelin Strategy & Research, comments: "Javelin's 2009 Identity Fraud Report highlights that fraud is increasing but it is being caught more quickly; consumer costs are declining; and crimes of opportunity, such as information from lost wallets, still comprise the vast majority of incidents."
All the same, one in four victims experienced a PIN compromise on either their ATM/debit or credit cards. This translates into at least 2.7 million PIN compromises in 2008.