The survey, based on telephone interviews with 5,000 adults, was conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research, a data research firm, and was sponsored by Visa, Wells Fargo and CheckFree. The margin of sampling error is below plus or minus one percentage point for the crimes’ prevalence. The findings contradict public perceptions that identity fraud is proliferating out of control, said James Van Dyke, president and founder of Javelin.

“For years identity fraud has been reported as the nation’s fastest growing crime, with the assumption that the numbers would keep going up,� Mr. Van Dyke said. “We find it’s not the case. The trend is going down.�

Because the survey relied on people’s accounts of whether they had been victims, it does not measure “synthetic identity theft,� in which criminals fabricate identities using names, addresses, Social Security numbers and other information that may or may or may not correspond to real people. A 2005 analysis by ID Analytics, a financial industry security firm, found that synthetic identity theft was more common than “true-name� identity theft.

As in past years, the Javelin survey found that individuals whose identities were stolen bore less than 10 percent of the loss from the crimes.

Young adults, ages 18 to 24, were the most likely to say they were victims, and the least likely to take precautions to prevent identity fraud like shredding documents and using computer firewall protections, the study found. People with high incomes were more likely to say they had been victims than were people with low incomes.

The survey did not study why the numbers were dropping, but Mr. Van Dyke attributed the declines to both greater consumer awareness and better prevention efforts by banks and credit card companies.

Edmund Mierzwinski, consumer program director at the United States Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit group, said the report underplayed the effects of recent state legislation, which the financial services industry has largely resisted. The protections include requirements that companies notify people whose personal information has been compromised, and laws enabling people to freeze their credit reports.

“Financial companies don’t want new regulations,� Mr. Mierzwinski said. “We think we need new regulations. The reason consumers are paying more attention to identity theft is that many are getting breach notices.�

He added, “From our perspective the decline is a good thing, but it’s still affecting many millions of Americans. The cost to victims remains very high in terms of lost time and frustration.� Read Full Article