Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024
Cited in 3 Likelier entries (3 risks, 0 decisions).
Used in 3 entries
For each citing entry, the verbatim excerpt and Likelier's calculation notes (how the source's number was converted to the lifetime-probability framing) are shown below. Click through to read the full claim ledger.
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- Statistic
1.1+ million identity theft reports filed in 2024; credit card fraud was the largest identity theft category at 43.9% of all identity theft reports; total consumer fraud losses exceeded $12.5 billion
“"During 2024, Sentinel received 6.5 million consumer reports. In 2024, there were more than 1.1 million reports of identity theft received through the FTC's IdentityTheft.gov website. Credit Card tops the list of identity theft types reported in 2024."”
Calculation notes
The FTC Sentinel figure captures the subset of credit card fraud incidents where victims filed a formal federal report. At 43.9% of 1.1 million identity theft reports, credit card fraud accounts for roughly 483,000 filed reports per year. This is an order of magnitude below the survey-based prevalence because most unauthorized charges are caught by the issuer, reversed without loss, and never reported to any agency. The Sentinel data anchors the lower bound of the uncertainty range.
Independence note: The FTC Consumer Sentinel Network collects consumer-initiated complaints and partner agency reports. It is methodologically independent from industry surveys like Security.org and Javelin, which use representative consumer panels.
Source date: 2025-03-10 · Accessed: 2026-04-12
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- Statistic
1.1+ million identity theft reports filed via IdentityTheft.gov in 2024; credit card identity theft was the largest category at 449,032 reports
“"During 2024, Sentinel received 6.5 million consumer reports … the top three Sentinel report categories were Credit Bureaus and Information Furnishers (21% of all reports), Identity Theft (18%), and Imposter Scams (13%). … In 2024, there were more than 1.1 million reports of identity theft received through the FTC's IdentityTheft.gov website. Credit Card tops the list of identity theft types reported in 2024."”
Calculation notes
The Sentinel figure (~1.1M reports/year) is roughly an order of magnitude smaller than the BJS-implied incidence (~24M/year), which is the expected ratio between "events serious enough to file a federal report" and "any incident a survey respondent recalls when prompted." Both numbers are real; they answer different questions. Sentinel also feeds the lower-bound of our uncertainty band when paired with the BJS measured-lifetime floor.
Independence note: Sentinel is fed by consumer-initiated reports and partner-agency intake, while BJS NCVS is a stratified household survey. Methodologically independent collection pipelines.
Source date: 2025-03-10 · Accessed: 2026-04-11
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- Statistic
2.6 million fraud reports in 2024; 38% reported a monetary loss; total reported losses exceeded $12.5 billion, a 25% increase over 2023
“"During 2024, Sentinel received 6.5 million consumer reports … the top three Sentinel report categories were Credit Bureaus and Information Furnishers (21% of all reports), Identity Theft (18%), and Imposter Scams (13%). … In 2024, there were more than 1.1 million reports of identity theft received through the FTC's IdentityTheft.gov website."”
Calculation notes
FTC reports 2.6 million fraud reports with 38% indicating a loss, giving ~988,000 loss reports per year. Against ~260M US adults, that is ~0.38% per year who file a federal fraud report with a loss. This is a floor: most fraud victims never file with the FTC. The $12.5 billion total / 988,000 loss reports gives a mean reported loss of ~$12,700, but this is heavily skewed by investment fraud ($5.7B alone); the median is far lower. Used as the authoritative floor for the per-year rate.
Independence note: FTC Sentinel is fed by consumer-initiated reports and partner agencies. Methodologically independent from the AARP survey, which is a nationally representative panel.
Source date: 2025-03-10 · Accessed: 2026-04-11
