The latest study on identity theft by research firm Javelin suggests that while identity theft might be reducing slightly, it’s still a major crime claiming plenty of victims and billions of dollars. The study was sponsored by some major financial institutions including Wells Fargo and Visa.

Javelin interviewed 5,006 people, including 469 who said they were fraud victims, in a phone survey in the fall of 2006, and using that data estimated that 8.4 million adult Americans, or one in 27, found out that criminals had committed fraud using personal data such as credit cards or Social Security numbers. That was down slightly from an estimated 8.9 million victims in 2005 and 10.1 million in 2003.

The total cost of identity theft fell to $49 billion from $55 billion. The average cost per identity theft incident also fell slightly from $6,278 to $5,720, and adults under 25, African-Americans, and people who make more than $150,000 were among the groups most likely to suffer fraud.

The results are probably pretty accurate because in the last year we’ve seen a significant ramping up of security especially by financial institutions. Unfortunately this increased security is being spurred by tougher data protection laws rather than good corporate citizenship so let’s hope the laws don’t lose any of their teeth any time soon.

On the flip side we’re seeing much more creative and resourceful criminal gangs figuring out new ways to defeat new security measures, so I think the jury is still out on who will win this battle. In the meantime, stay vigilant and if you already take security seriously, keep doing what you’re doing.