Identity Theft Is More Common Than You Think
The Federal Trade Commission has a branch called the Consumer Sentinel Network, that collects complaints about fraud and identity theft from the FTC, the FBI, the Secret Service, and a host of other government entities. They compile those into a huge document every year, detailing how many complaints they receive directly, and how many cases there are in general. The results are staggering.
In 2015, there was a total of 490,220 identity theft complaints made. In previous years, the most commonly reported types of identity theft had to do with government documents/benefits fraud, followed by credit card fraud. But in 2015, tax- and wage-related fraud increased to make up 45% of all identity theft complaints. (We'll talk more about tax-related identity theft on the next page.) All in all, identity theft affected 17.6 million people in 2014 and seems to consistently affect around 7% of American households every year.
Beyond that, more than a quarter of all Americans have been victims of credit/debit card fraud specifically. (That astronomical percentage is partially due to security weaknesses unique to American credit and debit cards, and we will also talk more about that on a later page.) And while most people report resolving the matter in a fairly satisfactory way, an "unsatisfactory" resolution can be pretty catastrophic when the issue is your credit card information.
Did you know...
- There are over 1.6 million automated teller machines around the world. And that really does mean the entire world. There are even two ATMs on Antarctica at McMurdo Station operated by Wells Fargo. Friday is the most popular day that ATMs are used worldwide, and the average withdrawal is around $80.
- Do you know what the lifespan of U.S. currency is? The higher the denomination, the longer it stays in circulation. Both $50 and $100 bills last 9 years. The $20 sticks around for 4 years. $10 bills circulate for 3 years. The $5 bill has a 2-year lifespan, and the $1 bill only lasts around 18 months before being retired. Coins last around 30 years.
- Paper money is actually pretty heavy. One pound would be worth $454 in $1 bills. That means $1 million comprised solely of $100 bills would weigh over 20 pounds. Those suitcases filled with money in movies must be hefty to lug around all that paper money. If you plan on robbing a bank, you better bulk up!
- The most expensive hotel room in the world (the Royal Penthouse Suite at the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland) costs $83,200 a night. That's $58 per minute for a stay! Good thing it has 12 bedrooms, 12 baths, a wraparound terrace, a Steinway piano, and an assigned private staff (including a chef)!
- Have you ever wondered who prints the most money? That would be Hasbro, as in the makers of Monopoly. Hasbro prints more Monopoly money in a given year than there is money in the entire world. Each set of the game comes with $20,580. Bet you didn’t know you had that much money lying around the house!