Arizona is No. 1 for identity theft

Arizona is No. 1 for identity theft
By Alexis Bechman

February 20, 2009

The statistics on identity theft in Arizona are startling. Almost 300,000 Arizonans had their identities stolen in 2007, the equivalent of everyone in Payson having their identities stolen 20 times over in one year.

Around 25 percent of the state’s residents have been victims of identity theft in the last six years, making Arizona the No. 1 state for identity theft four years running.

The majority of stolen identities, 36 percent, are used to gain unemployment fraudulently partly because of the state’s high rates of illegal immigration and methamphetamine use, according to Identity Theft 911, LLC.

And contrary to the belief that the elderly are the most common victims of identity theft, the majority of complaints filed are by 18 to 29 year olds with only 8 percent filed by 60 year olds and older, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

“You can take every other crime and combine it and it does not add up to the number of identity thefts,â€

I hope Lou Dobbs knows about this.