According to a newly released report, identity crime victims are more than three times more likely to consider suicide than the general public.

According to the 2023 Consumer Impact Report released today by the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) (available for download here), 16 percent of identity crime victims who have contacted the ITRC in the past year say they have considered suicide as a result of having their identities misused, which is double the percentage from 2020 and a six percent jump from last year. For context, the number of U.S. residents (excluding unsheltered people) who say they have contemplated taking their own lives for any reason is five percent (5%) according to government estimates.

The 26-page PDF report is based on survey responses from two groups of identity crime and compromise victims: Individuals who contacted the ITRC by telephone or live chat (ITRC Victims) and consumers who did not contact the ITRC but who nonetheless were self-reported victims of an identity crime or compromise (General Consumers). An identity crime involves the theft and/or misuse of personal information.

Three other findings reported in the 2023 Consumer Impact Report:

• Repeat identity crime victims exceeded the number of first-time victims among ITRC Victims and General Consumers. 41 percent of ITRC Victims and 69 percent of General Consumers said they had previously been the victim of an identity crime (not including data breaches). That compares to 36 percent for ITRC Victims and 30 percent for Consumers who were first-time victims.
• Using the same password on multiple accounts leads to identity crimes, yet most ITRC Victims and General Consumers said they did just that. 56 percent of ITRC Victims and 59 percent of General Consumers admit to using the same or similar passwords on all accounts.
• More ITRC Victims and General Consumers received data breach notices in the past year than those who did not receive a breach notice. 33 percent of ITRC Victims and 23 percent of General Consumers received between two and five notices.

The 2023 Consumer Impact Report is chock-full of graphics and statistics, as well as quotes from actual victims. Check it out here!

So, what do you think? Are you surprised that identity crimes are leading to such a high rate of victims considering suicide? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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