Study shows increase in online information thefts

  • Associated Press
  • Monday, April 14, 2014 1:16pm
  • Business

NEW YORK — The number of Americans who have had important personal information stolen online is on the rise.

That’s according to a new Pew Research Center report released Monday.

The January survey shows that 18 percent of online adults had personal information stolen such as their social security number, credit card or bank account information. That’s up from 11 percent in a July 2013 survey.

The number of adults that had an online account compromised — such as email or social media — remained flat at 21 percent.

The survey was done after news broke of Target Corp.’s massive pre-Christmas data breach that resulted in the theft of 40 million debit and credit card numbers, along with the personal information of up to 70 million people.

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