Re:Paper shredders are important: staggering facts - FireBoard

Staggering ID Theft Facts:

* There are more than 24,000 reports of identity fraud every day

* 8% of identity theft involves senior citizens, and the most vulnerable group is 18-29 year olds.

* online exchanges present only 9% of the crime

* 15% of identity fraud cases involve family and friends, but only 6% of Americans believe family and friends are likely to steal identities

* Identity theft is America's fastest growing crime, with nearly nine million victims in 2005

I find 24,000 identity fraud cases daily a huge and shocking number. Don't you too?

And yet more numbers:

* 38-48% of victims find out about the identity theft within 3 months of it starting

* 9-18% of victims take 4 years or longer to discover that they are victims of identity theft

* Victims spend from 3 to 5,840 hours repairing damage done by identity theft. The average number of hours victims spend repairing the damage caused by identity theft is 330 hours.

* 26-32% of victims spend a period of 4 to 6 months dealing with their case and 11-23% report dealing with their case for 7 months to a year.