JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If all the recent data breaches weren't alarming enough, here's a startling statistic: Nearly one in three Floridians have been victims of identity theft over the last two years.
That's according to a new study produced by AAA, which found that 31 percent of those polled acknowledged having their personal or financial information stolen recently.
Recommended Videos
The news follows several breaches -- credit monitoring firm Equifax disclosed last month over 140 million clients' information was compromised, and Yahoo's 3 billion users were exposed in 2013.
These security lapses have the majority of Floridians on edge and fuel a growing lack of trust between consumers and those they routinely do business with. Among the study's findings:
- 90 percent of people are concerned about falling victim to identity theft;
- Almost 50 percent doubt gas stations can protect their information;
- Roughly 25 percent don't trust ATMs;
- 1 in 5 doubt retailers can protect their identity
But the study also showed Floridians take a range of steps to protect their personal information, ranging from regularly monitoring their bank and credit card transactions to signing up for email alerts notifying them of suspicious activity.
While there's no failsafe method of preventing identity theft, here are four tips provided by AAA that can help:
- Sign up for a credit monitoring service
- Review your credit card statement, bank transactions and credit report regularly
- Do not reply to unsolicited requests for information
- Securely store your personal, financial and medical information
To learn more, visit AAA.com/IdentityTheft.