Some 12.6 million Americans were victimized by identity theft in 2012, the second-highest total since the Federal Trade Commission began counting victims in 2003 and roughly 1 million more than 2011, according to the survey by Javelin Strategy and Research. The record – 13.9 million victims – was set in 2009, NBC News reported.

The criminals made off with $3 billion more than in 2011, as well. Overall, slightly more than 1 in 20 consumers — 5.26 percent — were victims last year, the survey found. A large portion of the increase was driven by “dramatic jumps” in more-serious forms of ID theft, such as new account fraud, where a criminal uses a victim’s personal information to open new credit cards or other kinds of loans. New account fraud increased by 50 percent last year, according to the report.

Javelin’s data is based on telephone surveys of U.S. adults, with consumers self-reporting details of their ID theft to survey takers and results extrapolated from their answers. The precision of such data can be questioned, but Javelin has used the same techniques for eight years, making year-to-year observations informative.

(Source: NBC)