http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/privacy/story/0,10801,77792,00.html
FTC says incidence of ID theft jumped in 2002 By PATRICK THIBODEAU JANUARY 22, 2003 Content Type: Story Source: Computerworld WASHINGTON -- The Federal Trade Commission today said that reported cases of identity theft increased nearly 88% last year. But some experts say the numbers may only be disclosing a fraction of the overall problem. The FTC last year received 161,800 identity theft complaints, up from 86,200 in 2001, according to its annual report on consumer fraud. ID theft accounted for 43% of all fraud complaints the FTC received last year, the agency said in a statement. The number of fraud complaints overall increased by nearly 73%, from 220,000 to 380,000. The cost for all fraud reached $343 million. FTC officials said the increase may be due in part to agency efforts to encourage victims to file complaints, as well as increased participation from public and private agencies that report fraud. Those agencies include the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General and many Better Business Bureaus in the U.S. But one private survey released earlier this month by Maitland, Fla.-based Star Systems, a Concord EFS Inc. subsidiary, found that one in 20 adults, or about 11.8 million people in the U.S., have been victims of identity theft. Those results came from an independent, third-party telephone survey. ... snip ... -- Internet trivia, 20th anv: http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/rfcietff.htm
