Criminals are engaging in complex identity fraud schemes that are leaving record numbers of victims in their wake.

The amount stolen hit $16.8 billion in 2017, as 30% of U.S. consumers were notified of a data breach, an increase of 12% from 2016, according to a Javelin Strategy & Research study and the Insurance Information Institute.

Billions of records compromised

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center's most recent Data Breach Report, between January 1, 2005 and August 31, 2018, there have been 9,395 breaches. That accounts for over 1.1 billion records compromised.