Identity theft in the United States

Identity theft in the United States was estimated to be responsible for financial losses of $24.7 billion in 2012 by a United States Department of Justice study — about double the $14 billion total of other property crimes. Analysts at Javelin Strategy & Research estimated that 1 in 3 Americans affected by a data breach ended up a victim of fraud in 2013 — up from 1 in 9 in 2010. According to their surveys, when an existing credit card is exposed and then used for fraud, the average loss is $1,251. When a Social Security number is exposed and then used to open new accounts, the average loss is $2,330. Javelin says that the number of identity theft victims jumped to 13.1 million in 2013, an increase of 500,000 from 2012 and the second highest number of victims since Javelin began conducting its annual study in 2004.

Identity theft is blamed for $4 trillion of fraudulent tax refunds by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and 770,000 taxpayers have been the victims of tax identity theft by 2013.

The Identity Theft Resource Center said there were 662 data breaches in the United States in 2010, almost a 33% increase from the previous year.

On May 5, 2011, Michaels, a craft store chain, sent an email alert to its customers revealing that its debit card terminals in 20 states had been compromised. Customers who made PIN-based purchases between February 8 and May 6, 2011 may have had their data exposed. A class action lawsuit was filed against Michaels in the County Court of Passaic, New Jersey over the incident. On January 25, 2014, Michaels warned of a possible second hacking of its customers' data and urged shoppers to keep an eye on their card statements for fraudulent activity. On April 17, 2014, Michaels confirmed a security breach at some of Michaels' stores and subsidiary Aaron Brothers from May 8, 2013 to February 27, 2014.

Between July and September 2011, a $13 million scam resulted in the arrest of 111 people. The scammers used skimming devices to swipe consumer credit card information at retail or food establishments. According to the Federal Trade Commission losses from identity theft in the United States cost about $1.52 billion in 2011. It is estimated that the IRS gave identity thieves $5 billion in refunds.

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