There are fresh reminders about the importance of identity theft protection in the worksite market.
ARAG, a major legal-insurance provider that also offers I.D. theft prevention and resolution assistance, cited two recent reports that add food for thought on this hot topic to bolster its 2009 study with Russell Research about the top 10 legal concerns for Americans.
One comes courtesy of the Federal Trade Commission, which describes credit-card fraud as the most common form of reported identity theft (17%) followed by government documents/benefits fraud (16%), phone or utilities fraud (15%) and employment fraud (13%). The other, involving Javelin Strategy and Research data, notes that the number of identity fraud victims in the U.S. spiked 12% to 11.1 million adults last year, while the total annual fraud amount rose 12.5% to $54 billion.
In addition, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation is calling attention to a rise in medical identity theft, with a troubling report that notes these thieves are often health care insiders who seek treatment under an assumed identity.
This article was used by permission from Employee Benefit News.
