Identity Theft Resource Center

The Federal Trade Commission warns that scammers are targeting individuals previously victimized by fraud, using fake recovery offers and agency badges to extract more money. The Identity Theft Resource Center's 2026 report highlights that 25.6% of identity crime victims manage multiple incidents, while 62.1% of attempted identity misuse involves new account applications. Scammers maintain 'sucker lists' of victim data, enabling repeat targeting, and stolen Social Security numbers remain vulnerable to long-term fraud due to their irreplaceable nature.

A Mesa woman's Medicaid coverage was jeopardized after someone used her Social Security number to report fake income from an oil field job in Texas. Corina, who has been on disability since 1999, filed police and federal reports but struggled with bureaucratic hurdles to prove her identity theft until media intervention secured her benefits.

Corina, a Mesa woman on disability since 1999, faced potential loss of Medicaid coverage after someone used her Social Security number to falsely report employment in Texas. She filed reports with authorities and the Arizona Department of Economic Security but struggled to resolve the issue until media intervention secured her coverage. Experts highlighted the risks of employment identity theft, including tax and benefits complications.

Complaints to the CFPB about debt collection for unowed debts rose 115% in 2025, with many cases involving suspected identity theft. Debt collectors use outdated contact information and data-broker profiles to target individuals, often based on breached data, while federal laws like Regulation F and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act provide consumers with dispute rights and validation requirements.

A new scam exploits CAPTCHA-like prompts to trick users into executing malicious scripts, leading to malware installation. The Identity Theft Resource Center warns that these scams use familiar security checks to bypass user trust, often delivering StealC malware that silently steals sensitive data.

Identity fraud is rising in the United States, with consumers losing $27.3 billion to traditional identity fraud in 2025, and breach notices becoming a regular part of life. The Identity Theft Resource Center logged a record 3,322 U.S. data compromises in 2025. Stolen identity records often take time to turn into fraud, with data being sold and resold through criminal markets.