Was there a document shredder under your tree on Christmas morning?
I didn’t think so.
I can’t imagine it was on too many must-have lists this year.
But reading a report on identity theft has me thinking about snagging one during the after-Christmas sales. The report, by an Arizona company called Identity Theft 911, which sells identity management services, looks at the crime in Washington state, which is typically in the nation’s top 10 for identity theft.
The report suggests that:
One if five residents has been a victim of the crime during the past five years.
Some 250,000 residents fell victim to the fraud in 2006, an amount equal to the combined populations of Bellevue, Redmond and Renton.
Identity theft costs Washington state victims an estimated $1.22 billion last year.
Residents spent 7.7 million hours resolving identity theft issues.
I can’t speak to the accuracy of the above numbers. Identity Theft 911 released its own estimates based on considerably lower numbers reported to the Federal Trade Commission, which recognizes that its numbers of reported instances are considerably lower than the actual incidents.
The report also quotes Rob McKenna, state attorney general, acknowledging that many victims never call the trade commission to report the crime.
The numbers on their own aren’t too important. The bottom line here is that the problem has been growing, rising from 3,894 complaints in Washington as reported to the FTC in 2002 to 5,336 in 2006. Last year, Washington ranked ninth in the nation in identity theft, In earlier years, it was closer to fifth.
One of the items in the report I hadn’t seen before was how criminals are using the information stolen by Washingtonians. Here, crooks are much more likely to steal information about an existing financial account — a credit card or bank account — and to loot it, rather than to use the stolen identification to create new ones.
Washingtonians are 40 percent less likely to have their stolen identities used to obtain fraudulent government benefits than the national average. They’re also less likely to have someone file a fake tax return with their identity.
The metropolitan area that includes Seattle, Bellevue and Everett is where much of the identity theft problem is focused in Washington state, with one victim per 1,000 people. Yakima is even worse though, with 1.4 victims per 1,000 people, the 43rd worst rate for metropolitan areas around the country.
While those numbers can seem far removed, it’s a little more interesting to me to look at what one victim faces when his or her identity is stolen.
The report estimates that identity theft costs each victim about $4,800 in money and 30 hours in time negotiating with creditors and credit bureaus to resolve the problem.
Another of the more interesting elements was how identity theft is becoming a regular part of criminal activity, overlapping with other crimes. The report quotes McKenna saying there’s a strong link between identity theft and the use of methamphetamine. He noted that many people arrested for identity theft are drug users, people who burglarize cars and homes and take identity documents right along with things such as jewelry, stereos and computers.
Outside burglary, people can be their own worst enemy in putting important documents into the hands of criminals, the report noted.
Putting financial documents in our mailbox for pickup and raising the red flag is a signal to thieves.
Or just using an unlocked mailbox makes it easy for thieves to steal bank and credit card statements and other documents.
And throwing financial and personal documents out with the thrash can just be handing it over to identity thieves, who often will steal a person’s garbage as well as the mail to get the information.
That’s where the shredder comes in. It’s not as cool as an MP3 player, but it could save you some money in the long run.
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@heraldnet.com.
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