An estimated 16.6 million people — 7 percent of the U.S. population 16 or older — experienced at least one incident of identity theft last year, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics said today. Financial losses due to personal identity theft totaled $24.7 billion, more than $10 billion more than the losses attributed to all other property crimes measured in the National Crime Victimization Survey. About 14 percent of victims suffered an out-of-pocket financial loss in the most recent identity theft. Of victims who experienced an out-of-pocket loss, about half lost $99 or less. Identity theft is the attempted or successful misuse of an existing account, such as a debit or credit card account, the misuse of personal information to open a new account, or the misuse of personal information for other fraudulent purposes, such as obtaining government benefits or providing false information to police. In 2012, the misuse or attempted misuse of an existing account was the most common type of identity theft, with 15.3 victims.