The Financial and Psychological Impact of Identity Theft Among Older Adults

Background and objectives: Society's growing reliance on technology to transfer private information has created more opportunities for identity thieves to access and misuse personal data. Research on identity theft specifically among adults aged 65 and older is virtually nonexistent, yet research focusing on victims of all ages indicates a positive association between age, minority status, and more severe economic and psychological consequences.

Research design and methods: Identity theft measures come from a sample of more than 2,000 self-reported victims aged 65 and older from the nationally representative National Crime Victimization Survey Identity Theft Supplements administered in 2014 and 2016. Regression was used to examine how socioeconomic status, demographic characteristics, and incident-specific factors relate to how much money is stolen, the likelihood of experiencing out-of-pocket costs, and emotional distress among older identity theft victims.

Results: Older Black identity theft victims were more likely to have greater amounts of money stolen and were more likely to feel distressed by the incident than older White victims. The most disadvantaged older adults living at or below the federal poverty level were significantly more likely to suffer out-of-pocket costs. The length of time information was misused, experiencing subsequent financial problems and problems with friends/family, and the hours spent resolving identity theft were positively associated with emotional distress. Among those aged 65 and older, age was not significantly associated with losses or emotional distress.

Discussion and implications: Older adults living in poverty need more resources to assist with recovery and reporting identity theft to law enforcement. Limiting the extent of losses from identity theft and reducing the length of time information is misused may reduce the emotional toll of identity theft on older victims.