Young people need to be particularly aware of the dangers of identity theft, warns a recent study from Javelin Research.
According to the organization, 11.1 million adults fell victim to identity thieves in 2009, marking a 12 percent gain over the previous year. Total damage from such crimes was said to reach $54 billion.
Of this population, those aged 18 to 24 were said to be the slowest to catch identity theft, in part because they are less likely to consistently monitor their accounts and were also seen as less likely to use the various credit monitoring services available to them on the market.
Still, the report also noted that this age group was most likely to take action when they did become victims of identity theft, generally by switching their banks and their payment options. In general, more consumers are also taking the time to file police reports and similar actions, resulting in a higher number of arrests and prosecutions.
In general, it takes 21 hours now for identity theft victims to detect and resolve fraud, although in some cases, such matters can go on for months or even years in the form of damaged credit scores and lost time and money.