Americans are significantly more likely to say their households have been victimized by credit card information theft than to say they were victims of any of the other crimes Gallup measured in its 2016 Crime survey

More than 1 in 4 (27 percent) now say they or someone in their household had information stolen from a credit card used in a store, up from a dip to 22 percent in 2015.

Overall, 38 percent of Americans say they worry frequently about having their credit card information stolen, the highest percentage for any of the 14 crimes Gallup asked about. The only other crimes which at least a third of Americans say they worry about frequently involve computer hacking:

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  • 35 percent worry frequently about having their email, passwords or electronic records hacked into.

  • 33 percent worry frequently about being a victim of identity theft.

  • 18 percent worry frequently about having their car broken into or stolen — the crime most often mentioned by respondents that didn't involve computer hacking.

The increase in reports of credit card information theft comes at a time when credit card companies are replacing magnetic-stripe credit cards as a way to protect information from hackers. At this point, the changes taking place in the United States have neither alleviated the fears of consumers that their credit card information will be stolen, nor reduced the percentage of Americans saying their households have been victimized, Gallup found.

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Jayleen R. Heft

Jayleen Heft is the digital content editor for PropertyCasualty360.com. Contact her at [email protected].