One-Quarter Of Canadian Adults (24%) Have Been Touched By Identity Theft

Toronto, ON - A new Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of Fellowes Canada Ltd, reveals that one-quarter of Canadian adults (24%) - representing approximately 5.7 million Canadians nationally - have either themselves personally (4%), or know someone who has (20%), been subject to identity theft.

Given the widespread reach of identity theft among Canadians, it follows then that a good majority (71%) are concerned about the fact that their "identity may be stolen and used for fraudulent means by criminals for financial gain".

But while most are concerned about identity theft, many Canadians appear to behaving somewhat carelessly when it comes to this issue. When asked how often they throw out junk mail without reading it, a majority of Canadians (81%) admit to either "always" (16%), "regularly" (42%), or "sometimes" (24%) doing so. Only 19% say they "never do so". And further, one in ten Canadians (12%) say that if they received an unsolicited credit card application or pre-approved cheques from a credit card company, that they would put them in the garbage as is.

This behaviour is common despite the fact that 94% of Canadians are aware that "criminals could steal your identity and use if for fraudulent means simply by using discarded sensitive personal or financial documents". Three-quarters (74%) express interest in knowing more about how to protect their identity from being stolen (30% say they are very interested). One-quarter (26%) say they are not interested (5% not at all interested).

Of those who don't have a paper shredder, three in ten (28%) say they are "very likely" (11%) or "quite likely" (17%) to buy one for their home in the next 12 months in order to destroy sensitive or personal financial documents. But 72% say they are unlikely to purchase one (37% "very unlikely").

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted for Fellowes Canada Ltd and fielded from February 10th to February 13th 2006. For the survey, a representative sample of 1078 adult Canadians were interviewed via an on-line survey vehicle. The sample used in this study has been weighted according to Census data to accurately reflect the population of Canadians. With a sample of this size, the aggregate results are considered accurate to within 1773.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had this entire population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within each sub-grouping of the survey population. Please open the attached PDF to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

Paul Orovan
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900