7.5% of Americans victims of financial fraud in 2008

Approximately 7.5% of US adults lost money as a result of some sort of financial fraud in 2008, in large part because of data breaches, according to Gartner. Payment card fraud (credit, debit and ATM card fraud) was the method most actively used by crooks to steal money, claiming 36% more victims in 2008 than other types of fraud. Gartner found that financial losses were highest in the case of new-account, credit card and brokerage fraud, with average losses per incident totaling $1,097, $929 and $900, respectively. However, victims of brokerage, credit card and debit/ATM card account fraud find it easiest to recover their losses, receiving an average of 100%, 86%, and 77% of the funds stolen, respectively.