The ITRC has released its 2022 Trends in Identity Report, showing 61% of identity compromise reports were victims of a Google Voice scam!

According to the 2022 Trends in Identity Report from the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) (available for download here), in 2022, 61 percent (4,081) of identity compromise reports to the ITRC were victims of a Google Voice scam, up from 53 percent in 2021 (3,926)

In 2022, the ITRC had a similar number of reported identity crimes (compromise, theft, and misuse) to its all-time high in 2021: 14,817 in 2022 compared to 14,947 in 2021, a decrease of less than one (1) percent. Other numbers reported in the 2022 Trends in Identity Report include:

• Fifty-five (55) percent (8,199) of identity crime cases were related to compromised credentials, 40 percent (5,961) reported cases were due to misuse of credentials, and one (1) percent (220) of reported cases were due to victims being notified about attempted but unsuccessful misuse of their credentials.
• Identity misuse was primarily due to account takeover or new account creation in 2022. Forty-six (46) percent of non-governmental and non-financial accounts were misused, with social media accounts making up 72 percent of non-governmental/financial account abuse.
• Most reported identity misuse was due to existing account takeover (61 percent – 3,637 victims). Second to existing account takeover in 2022 was misuse related to new account creation (32 percent – 1,889 victims).
• In 2022, 80 percent of identity compromises involved using identity credentials as part of a scam, compared to 77 percent in the previous year. Sixty-one (61) percent (4,081) of people who contacted the ITRC about compromised identities were the victims of Google Voice scams.

The 32-page PDF 2022 Trends in Identity Report includes a Letter from the CEO, 2022 at a Glance, 2022 Trends in Identity, 2022 Notable Trends, a Glossary of Terms and more! As usual, the report is chock-full of graphics, which makes it a much easier read than the 32 pages would indicate. Check it out here!

So, what do you think? Are you encouraged or discouraged by these numbers? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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