“While we saw more victims of identity fraud this year, we did have some good news—the fraud costs dropped for most consumers. This is due, in no small part, to the control that many Financial Institutions are giving to consumers and more proactive measures taken by consumers to reduce their fraud risk. One worrisome trend here is the ‘new frontier of fraud’ appears to be in the social media and smartphone. We are seeing an increased incidence of fraud for certain behaviors on social media sites as well as use of mobile phone. By adopting the recommendations in this report, consumers can empower themselves to employ social media safely as well as utilize the latest mobile technologies.”

"Scams of identity theft have exploded in recent years, and BBBs across North America hear every day from consumers and businesses who have been victimized. The most critical tool we have to fight identity theft is awareness. The only way we are going to stop it is to educate consumers on how to spot it before they give away critical information.”