Identity theft is a shockingly common crime, potentially affecting around one in four Americans. Understanding it can help you avoid becoming another statistic. Learn more about identity theft trends, then subscribe to LifeLock for identity alerts, stolen funds reimbursement, and expert assistance if your identity is stolen.
Identity theft is when someone steals your personally identifiable information (PII), such as your name, Social Security number, credit card details, or ID number, and uses it to commit fraud or steal money. While pretending to be you, identity thieves can open credit accounts, take out loans, make purchases, file tax returns, rack up medical expenses, apply for passports, and even commit crimes.
Browse the identity theft facts and statistics below to learn how common identity theft is and glean other insights to help you stay informed about the latest identity theft trends.
About our sources:These stats are taken from primary sources of U.S. data, such as the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) Consumer Sentinel Network Databook,1 research conducted or commissioned by Gen Digital (LifeLock’s parent company), the Identity Theft Resource Center,5 and others. See “Resources” at the end of this article for an exhaustive list.
How common is identity theft?
Gen Digital data indicates that around a quarter of all Americans have likely been affected by identity theft at some point in their lives. The following stats demonstrate how widespread identity theft has become in recent years.
1. According to an online survey commissioned by Gen Digital in the fall of 2025, approximately one in four Americans report having been a victim of identity theft at some point.4
2. The same Gen Digital survey indicates that more than 75 million Americans have likely been affected by identity theft.4
3. The most recent available data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics suggests that you’re more likely to become a victim of identity theft than any other crime.2
4. In 2024, the FTC received over 1,135,000 identity theft reports through its IdentityTheft.gov portal.1
5. According to TransUnion, a credit reporting agency, synthetic identity theft is the third most prominent cause of fraud losses, after scams and account takeovers; it accounted for 20% of all fraud losses in the first half of 2025.3
6. Research by the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) indicates that when it comes to identity theft, revictimization is common: among victims of identity theft in 2025, around 31% reported being victimized twice, 25% reported being victimized three times, and 14% reported being victimized four or more times in the last year.5
7. That means that only 28% of identity theft victims were victimized only once that same year, according to the 2025 ITRC study.5 Remember that if your personal information is circulating on the dark web, it could be exposed to scores of cybercriminals.
8. The IRS flagged 2 million tax returns for possible identity fraud in 2025.10
Identity theft trends
The following statistics about emerging identity theft trends help demonstrate how the identity theft landscape is changing.
9. Between 2019 and 2024, yearly identity theft reports to the FTC rose by nearly 500,000 cases, an increase of about 75%over five years.1
10. Identity theft reports to the FTC more than doubled from 2019 to 2020 and peaked in 2021 at over 1,400,000 cases, coinciding with the pandemic. Since 2021, reports of identity theft have been diminishing slightly, but the numbers have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.1
11. Criminals are increasingly using AI for identity theft, with fraud attempts involving AI deepfakes surging 2,137% in the past three years, according to a European study by Signicat, a provider of digital identity solutions.11
12. The Signicat study found that almost 43% of identity fraud attempts now use AI.11
13.Job scams, which can lead to identity theft, saw a 118% increase from 2022 to 2023, according to the ITRC.12
Most common types of identity theft
According to the FTC, the top four most common types of identity theft are credit card identity theft, “other identity theft,” loan or lease fraud, and bank account fraud. Read on for a detailed breakdown.
14.Credit card fraud was the most common type of identity theft reported to the FTC in 2024, accounting for more than 449,000 reports.1
15.Credit card fraud usually involves the opening of new credit card accounts using stolen personal information. The FTC reported more than 406,000 incidents of new-account credit card fraud in 2024, far more than credit card fraud that involved charges to an existing credit card account (52,428 reports).1
16. In 2024, the FTC received 176,400 loan or lease-related identity theft reports. This refers to identity thieves taking out loans or signing lease agreements using someone else’s personal information.1
17. In 2024, loan or lease-related ID theft statistics most commonly involved business or personal loans (95,689 reports), followed by auto loans (60,188 reports), and housing rentals (17,790 reports).1
18. There were over 114,600 reported cases of bank account-related identity theft in 2024.The majority of cases involved the opening of new bank accounts (62,982 reports).1
19. Several FTC-defined “other identity theft” categories in 2024 relate to account takeover attacks, including email or social media account theft (22,258 reports) and online shopping or payment account theft (19,797 reports). These forms of identity theft involve using another person’s email, social media, shopping, or payment accounts or creating such an account with stolen PII.1
20. Another common type of identity theft in 2024 included employment or tax-related identity theft (87,470 reports), which refers to using someone else’s identity to get a job, access wages, or file taxes.1
21. There were 82,626 reports to the FTC about identity theft related to phone or utility accounts in 2024. New mobile telephone accounts created with someone else’s PII were the most common type of identity theft in this category.1
22.Government document or benefit fraud remained a problem, with 70,332 reports to the FTC in 2024. This is when someone else’s identity is illegally used to apply for government ID, Social Security, Medicare, or unemployment benefits.1
An infographic showing the top 5 types of identity theft according to the FTC.
Identity theft demographic statistics
Cybercriminals don’t just target one demographic, like working-age adults — anyone can become a victim of identity theft. Here are a few statistics that show how identity theft impacts various demographic groups.
23. The FTC found that in 2024, people in their thirtieswere the most likely to report identity theft (291,807 reports), followed by people in their forties (207,658 reports), and people in their twenties (187,195 reports).1
24. However, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) found that in 2021, people aged 50-64 were the most likely to be victims of identity theft among all age groups.2
25. The BJS study also found that women were slightly more likely to have their identity stolen than men.2
26. While only around 2% of identity theft reports to the FTC were associated with people aged 19 or under in 2024, child identity theft remains a problem, accounting for 21,420 reports.1
27. However, other research suggests child identity theft may be underreported: a study by Javelin Strategy & Research, a financial services research company, claims there were 915,000 cases of child ID theft in 2022.4
28. The children of wealthy families (households with $150,000+ in yearly income) are more likely to be the victims of identity theft, according to research from Javelin.4
29. According to the most recent data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, people in households earning $200,000 a year or more are more likely to have their identity stolen than any other income group.2
30. In a 2023 study conducted by Black Researchers Collective and the Identity Theft Resource Center, 45% of the African Americans surveyed had experienced identity theft over a two-year period.7
31. Individuals with cognitive and physical disabilities have a greater risk of experiencing identity theft, according to 2025 research published in the Journal of Criminal Justice.8
Identity theft stats by area
According to FTC data, certain U.S. states have markedly higher rates of identity theft than others, with Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Texas reporting the most identity theft per 100,000 people.
Check out these statistics about the geography of identity theft in the U.S.
32. The U.S. state with the highest rate of identity theft in 2024 was Florida, with 528 FTC reports per 100,000 people, or 115,840 reports in total.1
33.Georgia had the second-highest rate of identity theft, with 517 FTC reports per 100,000 people, followed by Nevada (466 reports per 100K people), Texas (393 reports per 100K people), and Delaware (392 reports per 100K people).1
34. The state with the highest total number of identity theft cases reported to the FTC in 2024 was California — the country’s most populous state — with 139,665 FTC reports, followed by Texas (116,484 reports), and Florida (115,840 reports).1
35. The U.S. state with the lowest rate of identity theft in 2024 was South Dakota, with only 676 FTC reports per 100,000 people, followed by North Dakota (696 reports per 100K people) and Iowa (715 reports per 100K people).1
36.Wyoming — the least populous U.S. state — was also the state with the lowest total number of identity reports, with only 5,212 reports to the FTC.1
37. According to the FTC, the metro area with the highest rate of ID theft reports in 2024 was Miami-Fort Lauderdale (903 reports per 100K population), followed by the Atlanta metro area (690 reports per 100K people), the Houston metro area (573 reports per 100K people), and the Las Vegas metro area (570 reports per 100K people).1
U.S. states with the most identity theft reports in 2024.
Stats about the consequences of identity theft
Failing to prevent identity theft can lead to serious consequences, including financial loss, ruined credit, and severe mental health impacts. Take a look at the following statistics about the consequences of identity theft.
38. According to a 2025 study commissioned by Gen Digital, LifeLock’s parent company, 70% of identity theft victims lose money as a result.4
39. The same study revealed that the average financial loss from identity theft was over $7,600 in 2025.4
40. Similar 2025 research carried out by the ITRC found that among the general population, around 37% of identity crime victims lost $10,000 or more.5
41. According to ITRC, 22% of surveyed victims lost $100,000 or more, and 3% of identity crime victims lost one million dollars or more.5
42. The ITRC found that only 20% of identity crime victims lost less than $500.5
43. The ITRC notes a year-on-year increase in high-value losses due to identity theft from 2024 to 2025, indicating that criminals are getting better at profiting from stolen identities.5
44. According to the ITRC, among the general population, around 50% of victims of identity theft reported subsequently being turned down for credit or loans, 42% of identity theft victims reported being unable to pay their bills, and 42% reported struggling to find housing.5
45. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported a total of $174,354,745 in lossesdue to identity theft in 2024.9
46. The consequences of identity theft aren’t just financial: 25% of consumers experienced thoughts of suicide after becoming victims of identity theft, according to the ITRC.5
47. Tax-related ID theft victims wait nearly two years for resolution on average, and face an even longer road to full recovery, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate Objectives Report to Congress.10
Real-life identity theft story
One college student shared their experience of falling victim to a job scam that led to identity theft. After applying for remote jobs, they were contacted about a data entry position with what appeared to be a legitimate company.
The scammers used a fake interview process and real employee names to gain the student’s trust. Believing they had landed the job, the student handed over sensitive information, including their Social Security number and bank details.
Once they realized it was a scam, the damage was already done. Despite reporting the incident and freezing their debit card, they ran into repeated obstacles when trying to freeze their credit because they had no credit history. The experience left them overwhelmed, anxious, and struggling with their mental health, highlighting how deeply identity theft can affect a person’s life beyond financial loss.
Top strategies used by identity thieves
From various types of phishing to exploiting data breaches, cybercriminals use numerous strategies to obtain innocent people’s data and steal identities. Check out the following stats about some major causes of identity theft.
48. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), phishing, a tactic commonly used to steal personal information for identity theft, was the most common type of cybercrime in 2024.9
49. In 2022, the ITRC received four times the number of inquiries related to social media account takeovers than in 2021. Cybercriminals can use hijacked accounts to extort money from the account owner, friends, and family members.12
50.Imposter scams were the most commonly reported scam in 2024 according to the FTC.1 While an imposter scam is not the same as identity theft, cybercriminals can use this tactic to steal personal information: a fraudster impersonating a bank representative, for example, could trick you into disclosing your SSN and account information and steal your identity.
51.Data breaches — which can lead to PII exposure and identity theft — are very common: in 2024 alone, the ITRC recorded 1,350,835,988 victim notices about data breaches and compromised accounts.13
52. According to threat researchers at Gen Digital, data breaches are getting smaller but more dangerous. In Q3 2025, breach events jumped 76% while leaked records dropped 81%. However, more than 83% of breaches exposed passwords, pointing to a shift toward high-precision identity theft.14
53. Among victims of identity theft, only 21% know how their personal information was stolen, according to 2021 findings by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.2
Don’t be a statistic: help protect your identity
Keeping your identity completely safe isn’t always possible. But the right identity theft monitoring and protection service can help you limit the fallout if the worst happens.
LifeLock Standard helps notify you of data breaches, monitors the dark web for use of your information, and sends alerts when it detects your Social Security number being used for potentially fraudulent credit applications.
In the first nine months of 2024 alone, LifeLock issued over 16,900,000 alerts to subscribers about potential identity threats or suspicious activity that may require user action.
But LifeLock’s services don’t stop at warnings. If your identity is stolen, our Million Dollar Protection Package helps ensure you’re not left without support when it matters most. Our U.S.-based identity restoration specialists will be on hand 24/7 to help you navigate the potentially long, frustrating process of identity restoration.
Identity theft doesn’t automatically go away. If your personal information is exposed on the dark web, it could remain there indefinitely. And, it takes some victims years to deal with the fallout of a stolen identity. Fortunately, the effect of identity theft on your credit score can be temporary if you act quickly.
You may need to file a police report to prove you didn’t open those accounts and have false criminal records expunged.
What are some warning signs that you have had your identity stolen?
Unless you regularly monitor for signs of identity theft, you might not realize that someone is misusing your personal information until you start getting calls from debt collectors or law enforcement.
There are several warning signs that somebody stole your identity, including:
Calls from creditors regarding accounts you didn’t open.
Identity theft is increasing largely because more personal data is stored, shared, and stolen online. Large data breaches can expose millions of records at once, while phishing scams, malware, and social engineering allow criminals to steal login details and financial information.
Additionally, criminals are evolving their tactics, using AI-driven deepfakes and sophisticated phishing schemes to deceive people into handing over personal information. These advanced techniques make it easier than ever for fraudsters to commit identity theft.
Jeremy Coppock is a staff editor at Gen who’s passionate about anti-scam education. He has hands-on experience as a fraud investigator for a major online retailer.
Editor’s note: Our articles provide educational information. LifeLock offerings may not cover or protect against every type of crime, fraud, or threat we write about.
