How much is your stolen identity worth?

Data leaks are plentiful, and in the black market, this means more competition and lower prices paid for stolen identities. It appears identity theft rings are desperately trying to make a buck in these hard economic times, so to counteract slowing sales they have employed one legitimate business tactic that always works: volume discounts.

So how much are stolen identities going for these days?

According to a Security Threat Report from Symantec, researchers found that in the second half of 2007, batches of 500 stolen credit card numbers were being sold for as little as $200. That's 40 cents per card, which is 50 percent less than what they sold for in the first half of 2007.

In contrast, a batch of 50 full identities, that may include an active credit card number, a person's name, address, date of birth, and/or Social Security number, sells for $100. That's $2 a piece if you need a breakdown.

Don't want all that information? No problem. Access to a person's bank account is going for as little as $10.

Another interesting bit that came out of the report is that European stolen identities are worth more than American stolen identities. It seems criminals are willing to pay up to $30 each because they can be used in multiple countries, not just in the U.S.

Fraudsters sell all this stolen data through Web forums and instant-messaging groups that exist for a few hours, maybe even days. Apparently, criminals who try to pass off fraudulent information get cut off from the community, so they better hope their data isn't bogus, otherwise, their business isn't the only thing that's getting cut off.

ID thieves drive down prices for stolen data (USA Today)