Naperville Has 1 Identity Theft Every 17 Hours, Police Say

NAPERVILLE, IL — An identity theft takes place every 17 hours in Naperville and credit card theft takes place about once a week, according to the Naperville Police Department. Law enforcement will provide tips to prevent fraud at two informational sessions that are part of the city's "A Safer Naper" month.

In a post announcing the meetings on Twitter, Naperville Police went over the staggering statistics. They based their numbers off of averages culled from yearly reports.

• Credit card fraud: 1 in every 1.06 weeks
• Forgery: 1 in every 3.54 days
• Fraud 1 in every 2.1 days
• Identity theft: 1 every 16.98 hours
• Tax fraud: 1 every month

Naperville police shared a few of their tips for preventing fraud and identity theft. These include:

• Check your credit report annualy
• Keep your ID and social security card in a secure spot
• Enable security features on phones and tablets
• Make difficult passwords and use different ones for different sites

Police will go into more detail about how to prevent identity theft in Naperville at the upcoming meetings. They will take time to answer any additional questions you have as well. The meetings are as follows:

Mon. Feb. 12 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle

Wed. Feb 21 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at 95th St. Library, 4015 Cedar Glade Dr.

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