The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network report for the calendar year 2008 (see below for link) shows that the 20-29 year old age group was more targeted for network identity theft than any other in 2008, with 25% of such complaints coming from this demographic.

Unfortunately for those fresh out of college, 2008 was the third year in a row that twentysomethings were targeted for a majority of ID theft attempts and successes, the data showed.

In second place for the dubious title were the 30-39 year old group, according to the Sentinel Network report.

Why Twentysomethings?

Experts commenting on the report theorize that individuals fresh out of college are less likely to be wary of scams. They may also be too busy building their careers to regularly monitor their financial accounts for suspicious activity.

Overall, they also have a greater percentage per paycheck of disposable income than any other group than Baby Boomers—but the latter tend to track their expenses in detail and may invest in watchdog anti-ID theft programs.

Younger consumers may also have accumulated less debt than, for example, couples in their 30s and older who have a mortgage, children and perhaps the care of an aging parent. These can cumulatively amount to a worse debt ratio then when they had student loan debts but were otherwise financially unencumbered, experts claim.

All in all, the comparatively accessible finances of twentysomethings could be proving too much of a temptation for identity thieves and financial defrauders to pass up.

Other Groups Also Targeted

Of course, when it comes to financial fraud and identity theft, criminals aren’t necessarily discerning, and complaints overall rose during 2008, the Sentinel report shows.

A portion of the Summary section of the report states that

The CSN received over 1.2 million complaints during the calendar year 2008: 52% fraud complaints; 26% identity theft complaints; and 22% other types of complaints.

The total was derived from virtually every age group—even those of retirement age.

The Numbers Keep Growing

Last year’s total of 1.2 million complaints made to the CSN was up from a little over one million in 2007 and was the highest number recorded during the past eight years.

According to the CSN’s data, complaints of ID theft and various types of fraud have increased year-on-year except for 2006, which had shown a slight dip from the previous year.

This amounts to a rise from just 230,000 to comfortably over a million in a mere eight-year period, the new data shows.

For complete information including breakdowns according to metropolitan area and the percentages of each fraud sub-category, see the full report here.