Consumers ID theft concerns only growing

A Benenson Strategy Group study surveyed over 700 adults on their concerns about ID theft and cybercrime, the type of help they feel they would need to address those concerns, and which institutions they trust with alleviating those concerns.

Chris Carnicelli, CEO of Generali Global Assistance, commented on the findings, “Consumers are looking for an ID theft hero that can provide them with comprehensive protection before an incident occurs and help save the day when their identity is comprised. To find that hero, they’re turning to the institutions they already trust to protect their sensitive data for guidance as well as comprehensive ID theft and cyber protection services.”

Consumers ID theft concerns outranking other common fears

76% of respondents said they were worried about ID theft while 34% indicated they were very worried. This outranked other common fears like:

• Becoming seriously ill or getting injured (74%)
• Being in a car accident (64%)
• Having their home robbed (56%)

49% said their life would be significantly impacted if they were a victim of ID theft or cybercrime, with only 9% indicating they felt there would be minimal or no impact. 1 in 5 said they think there’s a 75 – 100% chance that they’ll be a victim of ID theft or cybercrime in the next five years.

Paige Schaffer, CEO of Global Identity & Cyber Protection at Generali Global Assistance, concluded, “The 76% of respondents who indicated that ID theft and cybercrime was one of their top concerns are right to be worried since identity fraud was responsible for $56 billion worth of losses last year according to Javelin’s 2021 ID Fraud Study.

“After conducting our first study back in 2017, we felt the time was right to go back to see how these concerns may have changed, hoping consumers felt more confident in combatting ID theft and cybercrime. Unfortunately, we saw that concern was still elevated, and even more worrisome, consumer education hasn’t seemed to improve with 50% respondents still indicating they wouldn’t know where to begin when it comes to protecting themselves from ID theft and cybercrime.”

Consumers want expert help

• 84% of respondents said “When it comes to protecting myself from ID theft or cybercrime, there are some important things that I cannot do on my own”
• 76% felt they would need the help from a trained expert to feel truly protected from ID thieves and cybercriminals
• 90% believe becoming a victim of ID theft or cybercrime is something that can happen to them at any time
• 80% are often scared by the number of ways their identities can be compromised
• 63% said they wouldn’t know how to fix things if their personal information was compromised
• And 50% still felt that they wouldn’t know where to begin when it came to protecting themselves from ID theft or cybercrime; unchanged from when the study was conducted back in 2017

Consumers look to institutions they trust for a hero

• Consumer concern is driving them to look for solutions with 60% saying they are likely to purchase ID theft protection in the next two years, with 54% indicating they would purchase protection services against cybercrimes in the next two years
• 77% will turn to a company that specializes in credit monitoring or ID theft protection
• But they would also purchase ID theft and cyber protection services from
• their insurance company (64%)
• bank or credit union (63%)
• credit card company (61%)
• or purchase it with their computer software package (58%)