The actual number of identity theft crimes that were reported in California fell in 2011, compared to 2010.  However, there was an increase in losses as a result of such theft.

In 2010, victims of identity fraud are reported to have lost as much as $82 per person.  However, last year, those losses increased to $786 per person.  That was even though the number of identity theft crimes that were reported last year, actually fell.  In 2011, about 1000 cases of identity theft were investigated.  That was less than half the numbers that were investigated the previous year.

Those numbers however may not be entirely accurate, because there is no centralized system that tracks identity theft in California.  Data for this particular report came from local police departments, and each department calls identity theft by different names including wire fraud, computer fraud or credit card fraud.

There is a reason why there is a misalignment between the number of crimes and the actual volume of losses suffered last year.  Many of the identity theft cases that were reported last year involved new account fraud. 

This is a type of fraud in which a person steals a person's identity by creating a new account using the person’s good credit score and personal information.  New account fraud is harder to detect because the victim may not be aware of the fraud for many months.  Old account fraud may be much easier to detect, because the person frequently receives statements from the credit card company or the bank, informing him about the fraud as quickly as possible. Because new account fraud is more difficult to detect, the fraud may continue over a long time, leading to greater losses.