- Select a language for the TTS:
- UK English Female
- UK English Male
- US English Female
- US English Male
- Australian Female
- Australian Male
- Language selected: (auto detect) - EN
Play all audios:
By Katherine Skiba En español Published October 27, 2020
A drill sergeant would shout it out loudly and clearly: “People, strengthen your passwords!” That's a critical recommendation to emerge in an AARP-sponsored report that examined identity
fraud and found more than 1 in 4 Americans were hit by identity fraud last year, when losses were almost $17 billion.
Identity fraud is worse than identity theft, which is when your personally identifiable information (PII) is stolen or compromised, as in a data breach. In identity fraud cases, a crook
capitalizes on that sensitive data and rips you off or commits a related offense, says Javelin Strategy & Research, which wrote the report after surveying 5,000 adults in the U.S.
With loads of shopping and other transactions moving online, especially during the pandemic, what's happening will eventually be described as the “great digital migration,” the report says.
And 2019's estimated $16.9 billion in losses could climb as consumers adapt to a “digitally infused lifestyle."
Today, people want contactless, safe and faster personal and financial transactions and, according to the report, the good news is that desire will drive commercial innovation. The bad news:
Forecasts call for “increased criminal acts that target consumers and monetize their personally identifiable data,” says the report, entitled “Identity Fraud in Three Acts: A Consumer
Guide.” The report focuses on adults 55 and older.
Create an action plan