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Identity Theft Survey Report 2003 - Length of time to discover misuse. * For approximately one-third of all victims, it took less than one week to discover that their
personal information was being misused.
* Discovering the misuse was quickest for people who experienced misuse of existing noncredit
card accounts (41% discovered the misuse within one week) or who only experienced
the misuse of existing Credit Cards (39%).
* Victims of “New Accounts & Other Frauds” ID Theft were far less likely to discover the
misuse within one week. Only 17% of victims of ID Theft that involved the opening of new
accounts and other types of fraud discovered that their information was being misused
within a week of the onset of the misuse.
* 26% of all victims discovered the misuse of their information between one week and one
month after the time the misuse began. 12% of all victims took more than 6 months to discover the misuse. The victims most likely to have discovered the misuse of their information after this lapse of time were those with lower household incomes (19% of households with incomes of under $25,000 took 6 months or more to discover the misuse, compared to just 7% of households with incomes of $75,000 or more). Non-whites (19% of whom took 6 months or more to discover the
misuse) and those with lower levels of education (15% of those with a high school education
or less took at least 6 months) are also likely to take longer to discover the theft of their
information.
* Nearly one-quarter of the victims of “New Accounts & Other Frauds” took 6 months or more
to discover the misuse. It is likely that the time it takes many victims to uncover the occurrence of Identity Theft is related to the billing cycle for Credit Cards and other existing accounts. Seeing unauthorized account activity on a billing statement was the most cited way of discovering Identity Theft.
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