New York identity theft cases booming, report finds

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The number of identity theft cases in New York state reached a record level in last year, according to a new report from the office of New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

There were more than 67,000 identity theft complaints statewide last year — 85% more than 2019, and more than four times the total in 2010, when there were 16,494, according to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data.

Nationwide last year, there were 1.4 million complaints, up from about 650,000 in 2019, and about 250,000 in 2010.

Credit card fraud was the most frequently reported type of identity theft in the state, with nearly 25,000 New Yorkers reporting their information had been misused on an existing credit card account or to open a new account.

Last year, more than 3,600 identity theft reports related to COVID-19 were reported in the state, with two-thirds of those related to unemployment insurance or other government benefit programs, according to the FTC.

Identity thieves also used individuals’ personally identifiable information for other purposes, such as fraudulently obtaining medical services, prescription drugs or medical insurance coverage.

Nationwide, identity theft victims suffered financial losses of $15.1 billion in 2018, with average losses of $640 per person, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

New York accounts for about 5% of identity theft reports nationwide and costs hundreds of millions of dollars annually, according to DiNapoli.

In addition to the financial cost and disruption to daily life, identity theft can affect a victim’s ability to get a job, rent an apartment or obtain college loans. In some cases, thieves prey on children by using illegally obtained Social Security numbers for fraudulent purposes that may have damaging longer-term impacts if the crime is not discovered, according to the report.

Most reports of identity theft do not end in arrests and convictions. Statewide, identity theft arrests averaged about 750 each year over the past decade, while courts reported an average of 450 convictions annually, according to the State’s Division of Criminal Justice Services.

New York State laws and regulations include penalties of up to seven years in prison for identity theft crimes, and require certain businesses to take steps to guard Social Security numbers, credit card accounts and other personal data that is used in such crimes.

Government officials, along with independent consumer advocacy organizations, urge individuals to aggressively safeguard Social Security numbers, credit card and bank account numbers, birthdates and other personal private information that can be used in identity theft.

Private companies, especially credit agencies, social media providers and others that collect personal data from millions of consumers, must do more to safeguard such data, according to the Comptroller’s report.

“Along with their widely popular services, Facebook, Twitter and other online platforms present risks to users’ private data, in part because social media providers collect large amounts of such information and encourage and facilitate sharing much of it,” according to the report.

“Among other potentially useful steps, these businesses need to make their privacy policies and settings more accessible and user friendly, and more proactively remind users of important security tips such as avoiding public posting of birthdates, email addresses, phone numbers and other personally identifiable information,” according to the report.

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