ONE IN TEN PEOPLE IN GERMANY HAS BEEN A VICTIM OF IDENTITY THEFT

Fri 29 March 2024:

One in 10 Germans has been victims of identity theft, according to a survey published on Wednesday by the Initiative Sicher Handeln (ISH).

The survey conducted by the global public opinion and data company YouGov also showed that one in three Germans has encountered identity theft, either personally or through victims around them.

The ISH said criminals have used stolen user data to create new accounts and make purchases or conclude contracts at the victim’s expense.

The risk of becoming a victim of identity theft is increasing. While 185 million user accounts were stolen in 2021, the number could triple this year, the ISH said, citing the use of AI as one reason.

“Criminals could use AI to automate their fraud even more easily and quickly and thus carry out countless offenses simultaneously,” said ISH spokesperson Harald Schmidt.

Identity theft is a particularly perfidious scam, the initiative explained. Criminals used data such as the name, date of birth, address or credit card or account numbers of their victims to use this data to create user accounts with online services and to make purchases or conclude contracts at third-party expense. “The victims usually only notice this when it is too late and the transfers have been posted to the account or bills arrive.”

Many cybercriminals are currently taking advantage of the tense housing market. For example, apartment seekers are tricked into completing a postal identification process with a fake advertisement in order to apply for an alleged apartment inspection. Those affected often do not realize that the information they provide is simply helping the fraudsters open a bank account in their name that is to be used for criminal purposes, such as money laundering.

“Although the danger is increasing, many are obviously still taking the issue lightly,” said a spokeswoman for the initiative. The younger generation in particular acts particularly carelessly. In the survey, one in three 18- to 24-year-olds said they use the same password for multiple user accounts online. On average, just one in five people do this. 16 percent of young adults admitted that they had already shared a copy of their ID card with a stranger over the Internet. Within the entire sample, this only applies to eleven percent of those surveyed.

Data leaks have repeatedly resulted in huge quantities of stolen passwords and other personal data in Germany in recent years, with criminals becoming increasingly professional, according to the Federal Cyber Security Authority (BSI).

“The emergence of generative artificial intelligence is creating new challenges in the security sector,” BSI said in late 2023, adding that manipulated content is “becoming increasingly authentic and therefore more difficult to expose due to the continuous improvement in the quality of publicly accessible tools.”

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