Identity Theft Study Shows Increase In Problem

An annual study shows identity theft is getting worse with more victims losing more money. But at the same time, ID theft is being discovered faster.

The study by Javelin Strategy & Research shows that ID theft cases jumped by 12 percent last year to 11 million adults.

The total amount of fraud also increased by 12 percent, or $6 billion.

Technology is helping to detect fraud faster, but scammers are taking advantage of it to commit crimes. When consumers discover fraud through electronic monitoring -- checking their statements online every few days -- they catch the fraud much quicker.

When consumers wait to find fraud on paper statements, they lose more money and it takes longer to detect. If consumers wait for their monthly paper statement, the average monthly loss is almost $275. If they catch it electronically, it's just over $115.

The study found that people between the ages of 18 and 24 suffered the highest account misuse through social networking. They also took the longest time to detect fraud, 132 days, and were victims for the longest period of time, 149 days. wgal