What Are the 5 Most Common Types of Identity Theft?

Credit card fraud, not some exotic new scam, is still the single most reported form of identity theft in the country — and it isn’t close. The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network logged 1,135,291 identity theft reports in 2024, and nearly 40% of them involved a credit card. Here are the five types that made up the overwhelming majority of every identity theft report filed last year, ranked by actual volume, not guesswork.

Most Common Types of Identity Theft — Key Facts

Question	Answer
Total identity theft reports to the FTC, 2024	1,135,291 — 18% of all Sentinel reports
#1 most common type	Credit card fraud — 449,032 reports
#2 most common type	“Other” identity theft (medical, email/social media, insurance, online shopping, and more) — 358,993
#3 most common type	Loan or lease fraud — 176,400
#4 most common type	Bank account fraud — 114,608
#5 most common type	Employment or tax-related fraud — 87,470
Reports involving more than one type	14%
Top state for identity theft reports (per capita)	Florida, followed by Georgia and Nevada
Age group with the most reports	20–29 year-olds
Source	FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024 (published March 2025)
Last Updated	September 17, 2026

How This Ranking Works

This isn’t a list someone compiled from headlines. It’s pulled directly from the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network, the federal database that collects identity theft reports from consumers and law enforcement across the country. In 2024, Sentinel took in 1,135,291 identity theft reports — and the FTC breaks every one of them down by exactly what kind of theft it was. That’s the ranking below: not the scariest types, not the newest scams, just the ones that actually happened to the most people, in order.

1. Credit Card Fraud

449,032 reports in 2024 — by far the largest category.

This is what most people picture when they hear “identity theft,” and the numbers back that up. It covers two distinct situations: someone opening a brand-new credit card using your stolen information, and someone getting access to a card you already have and running up charges on it. Data breaches are the biggest driver here — your card number doesn’t have to be stolen from your physical wallet if it’s sitting in a retailer’s database that gets hacked instead.

The fix is usually faster than victims expect. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, your liability for fraudulent credit card charges is capped, and in most cases, you won’t be responsible for debt run up in your name as long as you report it promptly.

2. “Other” Identity Theft

358,993 reports — the FTC’s catch-all category.

This is the second-largest bucket, but it’s worth understanding why: it’s not one type of theft, it’s several smaller ones bundled together because none was large enough to rank on its own. This category includes your email or social media account getting taken over, someone using your identity to evade a criminal charge or citation, insurance fraud, online shopping or payment account misuse, securities account fraud, and medical services fraud — someone using your identity to get treatment, prescriptions, or medical equipment billed to your name.

Medical identity theft specifically is dangerous in a way credit card fraud isn’t: it can end up in your actual medical records, not just your credit file, which is why victims of medical identity theft need a different recovery process than a stolen credit card does.

3. Loan or Lease Fraud

176,400 reports — up sharply from prior years.

Someone uses your stolen identity to rent an apartment, take out an auto loan, apply for a personal or business loan, or take out a federal or private student loan. This one tends to surface later and uglier than credit card fraud, because the first sign is often a collections call or an eviction notice for an apartment you never rented, months after the fraud actually happened.

4. Bank Account Fraud

114,608 reports.

This covers unauthorized debit card charges, fraudulent ACH transfers or electronic funds withdrawals, and entirely new bank accounts opened in your name without your knowledge. It’s a distinct legal category from credit card fraud because it’s governed by a different law — the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, not the Fair Credit Billing Act — and the protections and deadlines aren’t identical. If a bank’s own security failure is what let the fraud happen in the first place, it’s worth knowing when you can actually sue a bank for identity theft rather than just eating the loss.

5. Employment or Tax-Related Fraud

87,470 reports.

This category covers two related but separate problems: someone using your Social Security number to get a job (employment fraud), and someone filing a fraudulent tax return in your name to steal your refund (tax fraud). The IRS’s own numbers make clear this isn’t shrinking — its fraud filters flagged 1.3 million suspicious returns worth $9.9 billion in the 2026 filing season alone. If this is the type that applies to you, here’s exactly how tax identity theft happens and what to do about it.

Close Behind: Phone/Utilities and Government Documents Fraud

Two categories missed the top five by a fairly narrow margin, and they’re worth naming because either one can be the first sign that your Social Security number is out in the wild:

• Phone or utilities fraud — 82,626 reports. New phone lines, utility accounts, or mobile plans opened in your name, or charges on an account you already had.
• Government documents or benefits fraud — 70,332 reports. A forged driver’s license or passport, or someone applying for and receiving government benefits using your identity.

If your number has already turned up in a breach, both of these are worth watching for specifically, alongside everything covered in how Social Security identity theft actually happens.

Why 14% of Victims Report More Than One Type

Identity theft rarely stays in one lane. Someone with your SSN, name, and date of birth doesn’t have to pick just one type of fraud to commit — they can open a credit card, apply for a loan, and file a fraudulent tax return with the same stolen information. That’s exactly why 14% of 2024’s identity theft reports named more than one type. If you’ve been hit once, it’s worth checking for the others before assuming the damage is contained.

What to Do If You’re a Victim

1. File a report at IdentityTheft.gov. This creates an official Identity Theft Report and a personalized recovery plan specific to which type (or types) affected you.
2. Place a free credit freeze at all three bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. This blocks new credit accounts from being opened in your name, which covers both credit card and loan/lease fraud.
3. Contact the specific institution involved — your bank for account fraud, your phone carrier for phone/utilities fraud, the IRS for tax fraud — since each has its own dispute process and its own deadlines.
4. Check for other types of misuse, given how often theft spans more than one category. What happens if you’re a victim of identity theft covers the fuller recovery process, including what federal law actually protects you from paying.
5. Watch your accounts for months, not days. Loan and lease fraud in particular can take a long time to surface.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most common type of identity theft?

Credit card fraud. The FTC received 449,032 reports of it in 2024, more than any other category, whether someone opened a new card in a victim’s name or misused an existing one.

What are the top 5 types of identity theft?

In order by 2024 FTC report volume: credit card fraud, “other” identity theft (a catch-all covering medical, email/social media, insurance, and online shopping fraud, among others), loan or lease fraud, bank account fraud, and employment or tax-related fraud.

Is tax identity theft common?

It’s the fifth most common category overall, with 87,470 FTC reports in 2024, and the IRS’s own fraud-filter data shows the volume of fraudulent returns has been climbing, not falling.

Can someone commit more than one type of identity theft with the same stolen information?

Yes, and it’s common. 14% of 2024’s identity theft reports involved more than one type — the same stolen SSN or personal information used across several different kinds of fraud.

What’s the fastest way to know which types affect me?

File a report at IdentityTheft.gov. It walks through the different categories and builds a recovery plan based on what actually happened to you, rather than assuming it’s just one type.

Does a credit freeze protect against all five types?

No. A credit freeze mainly protects against new credit card and loan/lease fraud, since it blocks new accounts from being opened. It won’t stop misuse of an existing account, tax fraud, or medical identity theft — those need separate steps with the specific institution or agency involved.

Sources Used in This Article

• Federal Trade Commission — Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024, published March 2025: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/csn-annual-data-book-2024.pdf
• Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration — Report 2026-400-019, May 2026 (2026 filing season tax fraud data): https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2026-05/2026400019fr.pdf

Researched and written by Israr Ahmad, legal content researcher and founder of AllAboutLawyer.com. All facts verified against the FTC’s official 2024 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, as of September 17, 2026. Last Updated: September 17, 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws vary by state and individual circumstances differ. For advice about your specific situation, consult a qualified consumer protection attorney.