Key Takeaways
- US identity theft reports involving people aged 19 and under rose to 22,780 in 2025, up 6.4% from 2024.
- The rebound follows two years of decline, and 2025 is still 4.9% below 2022.
- Under-19s’ share of all reports keeps shrinking – 2.5% in 2022 down to 2.0% in 2025.
The Story Behind the Numbers
In 2022, there were 23,953 US identity theft reports involving people aged 19 and under. The number then fell two years running: 22,225 in 2023, down 7.2%, and 21,418 in 2024, down another 3.6%.
In 2025 it reversed direction, climbing to 22,780. That is a 6.4% increase over 2024 and the largest single-year move in the series.
Even after the jump, 2025 sits about 4.9% below the 2022 figure. So the four-year picture is neither a steady climb nor a steady decline. It is a dip followed by a bounce, inside a band of roughly 21,000 to 24,000 reports a year.
Young people account for a small and steadily shrinking share. Of reports where the person’s age is known, those 19 and under made up 2.5% in 2022, 2.4% in 2023, 2.2% in 2024 and 2.0% in 2025 – roughly one in fifty throughout.
Why This Data Is Important
Two things make these numbers worth reading carefully.
First, a report is not the same as a victim. Someone has to notice the fraud and file it. A child’s Social Security number sits unused for years, and almost nobody thinks to check a 9-year-old’s credit file. The fraud often surfaces at 18, on a first job application or car loan. So today’s count reflects when fraud was found, not when it happened.
Second, the two lines are moving apart. Between 2022 and 2025, total identity theft reports rose 22.7% while reports involving under-19s fell 4.9%. Survey-based research consistently estimates far more affected children than the filing data captures. These figures measure detection at least as much as they measure crime.
For families, the practical response is unglamorous: check your child’s credit file, freeze it where your state allows, and reduce how much personal data their accounts and devices leak in the first place. Our beginner’s guide to VPNs explains what encryption – scrambling your traffic so outsiders can’t read it – does and does not protect.
Looking Ahead: Future Outlook
Four years of data now sit in a narrow band, between roughly 21,000 and 24,000 reports a year. That stability is itself the finding: while overall identity theft reporting grew sharply, the under-19 figure barely moved. Absent a change in how these cases surface – or a shift in what gets reported – there is little in the record to suggest the next year will look very different. Reducing what a family’s devices reveal remains a sensible baseline either way.
Source & Methodology
Figures come from the FTC Consumer Sentinel Network, accessed August 2026. The data covers US reports filed with the Federal Trade Commission, not verified victims, and the “19 and under” category includes 18- and 19-year-olds. Percentages are calculated only on reports where the person’s age was provided. Shares are approximate, as the FTC reports the age-known proportion rounded to the nearest percent. The agency restates prior years as late filings arrive.