
SCARS Institute’s Encyclopedia of Scams™ Published Continuously for 25 Years

Identity Theft can Happen to Anyone, Especially Scam Victims, but there are things You Can Do to Reduce Your Risk.
Join the FTC and SCARS for free webinars and other events during Identity Theft Awareness Week, February 1 – 5, 2021.
We’ll highlight what you can do to protect your personal information, red-flag warning signs of possible identity theft, and what to do if identity theft happens to you. Here’s what’s on tap.
Identity Theft Awareness Week starts Today
Identify Theft Affects About 1/3 of All Scam Victims!
Be Aware & Learn What You Can Do!
Tell your friends & family, or people who follow you about Identity Theft Awareness Week.
Among the challenges that COVID-19 has brought, add a higher risk of identity theft to the mix. In the past year, we had about 1.4 million reports of identity theft, double the number from 2019. Repeatedly, identity thieves targeted government funds earmarked to help individuals and small businesses hard hit financially by the pandemic. Find out about identity theft in the age of COVID-19.
The FTC and its partners will co-host a series of free events. A webinar with the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) will focus on identity theft during the pandemic. Experts from the AARP Fraud Watch Network and the FTC will take your questions during a Facebook Live event. And, the head of the FTC’s Identity Theft Program will join leaders of the ITRC on The Fraudian Slip podcast to talk about identity theft trends and the impact of COVID-19. For a complete listing of events, visit ftc.gov/IDtheftweek.
In 2020, the biggest surge in identity theft reports to the FTC related to the dramatic and nationwide dip in employment. After the government expanded unemployment benefits to people left jobless by the pandemic, cybercriminals filed unemployment claims using the personal information of other people. In 2020, we received 394,280 reports about government benefits fraud — overwhelmingly about identity theft involving unemployment insurance benefits — compared with 12,900 reports in 2019.
People also reported identity theft in which criminals used their business or personal information to get money from government-sponsored loan programs designed to help small businesses weather the pandemic. People reported they learned about the fraud when they got notices telling them it was time to repay loans they never applied for. Last year, we received 99,650 reports of fraud involving business or personal loans, compared with 43,920 reports in 2019, before the pandemic began. While not all of these new reports can be attributed to the government relief effort, they are a sizeable share of the increase.
People told us about identity theft involving their federal stimulus payments from the IRS by reporting it as tax identity theft. In 2020, reports to the FTC of tax identity theft rose to 89,390, from 27,450 reports in 2019. While many of the reports concerned other types of tax identity theft, the report numbers began to swell when distribution of the stimulus payments began.
Later this month, we’ll publish our Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, with a breakdown of all the identity theft, fraud, and other reports the FTC received in 2020. We’ll have more information for you then. In the meantime, we hope you’ll join us for Identity Theft Awareness Week to learn more about identity theft during the COVID-19 emergency.
For nuts-and-bolts tips on keeping your business’s information secure, check out Cybersecurity for Small Business. And, review our guidance, Businesses Must Provide Victims and Law Enforcement with Transaction Records Relating to Identity Theft, to know your compliance responsibilities — and how to help — if someone working to reclaim their good name after identity theft asks for transaction records from you.
IF YOU ARE OR SUSPECT THAT YOU ARE THE VICTIM OF IDENTITY THEFT
VISIT THE FTC WEBSITE HERE: Identity Theft Recovery Steps | IdentityTheft.gov
TAGS: SCARS, Identity Theft, ID Theft Victims, FTC, Reporting Identity Theft, Identity Theft Victims, Scam Victims, Online Fraud, Online Crime Is Real Crime, Scam Avoidance
PLEASE SHARE OUR ARTICLES WITH YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY
HELP OTHERS STAY SAFE ONLINE – YOUR KNOWLEDGE CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE!
THE NEXT VICTIM MIGHT BE YOUR OWN FAMILY MEMBER OR BEST FRIEND!
By the SCARS™ Editorial Team
Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc.
A Worldwide Crime Victims Assistance & Crime Prevention Nonprofit Organization Headquartered In Miami Florida USA & Monterrey NL Mexico, with Partners In More Than 60 Countries
To Learn More, Volunteer, or Donate Visit: www.AgainstScams.org
Contact Us: Contact@AgainstScams.org
-/ 30 /-
What do you think about this?
Please share your thoughts in a comment below!
Article Rating
Table of Contents
POPULAR ARTICLES
ARTICLE META
RATE THIS ARTICLE?
LEAVE A COMMENT?
Recent Comments
On Other Articles
on SCARS INSTITUTE SCAM WARNINGS – 2025: “This list is astounding! This just shows the general public has no idea the lengths the criminals will go to…” Jul 12, 10:17
on Nigeria – [EFCC] Economic & Financial Crimes Commission: “Thank you for your comment, but this is patently false. China is the source for the most scammers. Brazil has…” Jul 9, 06:20
on Nigeria – [EFCC] Economic & Financial Crimes Commission: “NIgeria has produced more scammers than the whole world produced. Seems like their law enforcement is pretty incompetent.” Jul 8, 02:51
on Self-Pity & Scam Victim Recovery: “I like how this article incorporates gratitude as an antidote to self-pity. I also like how the writer corelates that…” Jul 7, 19:48
on Victim Psychology – Managing Your Emotional 5 Saboteurs: “It is so possible to stand in our own way during our recovery. That self-doubt about what happened, even feeling…” Jul 5, 12:51
on Romance Scams – Crime Typology Overview / Victim Impact Analysis – 2025: “Excellent compendium of knowledge on romance scams . Thank you Dr. Tim” Jul 5, 07:43
on Romance Scams – Crime Typology Overview / Victim Impact Analysis – 2025: “Dr. Tim, in the couple of hours you took to pull this information together into a victim impact analysis, is…” Jul 4, 18:56
on The Normalcy Bias: Understanding the Cognitive Bias that Can Put You in Danger – 2022 [UPDATED 2025]: “The article has been reviewed and updated. Thank you.” Jul 2, 07:31
on Victims As Activists & Why Many Scam Victims Should Delay Or Not Become One: “This article is clear in the ways that survivors can put themselves off track trying to help before they are…” Jul 1, 20:05
on Victim Vulnerability After The Scam – Physical Risks: “Thank you for this article. I had no idea that after a crime we walk differently, or use smaller gestures.…” Jul 1, 19:41
Thank you for your comment. You may receive an email to follow up. We never share your data with marketers.