Identities stolen at a pace of one every three seconds in 2012!

One Mississippi ... Two Mississippi ... Three  Mississippi.  Uh oh, someone's identity was just stolen.

The crime rate for identity theft rose to a three year high in 2012 with more than 5% of the adult population in the United States having their identities stolen last year. That's 12.6 million consumers.  That also means that an identity was stolen every three seconds last year.

Yes, every three seconds someone in the U.S. fell victim to the life changing, financial ruining, most under prosecuted crime in the nation. Not to mention a crime that is nearly impossible to recover from absent a lawsuit due not to the complexity of the crime but the utter disdain for consumers held by the consumer reporting agencies and the furnishers of credit information, i.e. those charged by the Fair Credit Reporting Act with investigating credit errors but instead refer those investigations to out sourced, less than minimum wage, third world citizens who are not even given the authority or tools to investigate or correct any error.

The percentage of identity theft rose to more than 5% in 2012 , up from 4.9% in 2011 and 4.35% in 2010. Identity thieves made off with over $21 billion in fraudulently obtained goods and cash, the most since 2009. Also, not surprising, the same study revealed that the most important information to keep private is your social security number. According to the study, consumers whose social security number were compromised were five times more likely to have their identity stolen than an average consumer. So keep your social security number private as much as you can. And, if you are one of the unlucky 5%, be sure to hire the Kittell Law Firm and regain your correct financial reputation.