STAMFORD, Conn. – With identity theft spiraling, are credit unions missing an opportunity to fill a much needed niche? "Three out of five consumers are telling us that financial institutions are not doing enough to educate them on how to protect against identity theft, as most are learning about it through television commercials and/or news reports," said Lee Smith president/COO of research firm InsightExpress. "Credit card issuers and primary financial institutions stand a better chance of capturing and retaining customers if they take a more proactive approach in educating and protecting consumers against the threat." According to a recent InsightExpress survey, some 85% of consumers think they could be the next victims and 59% of consumers are actively taking measures to protect themselves. In addition, 15% of consumers report already being victims of identity theft. In terms of liability, almost half of consumers expect that they would be at least partly responsible for charges made on their credit card should they become a victim. Some 58% feel that the individual who stole the card is also responsible, followed by the institution that issues the card (33%), the institution that approves the credit card charge (29%) and the merchants (26%). Here is a look at other survey findings: Ways Americans Think ID Theft Can Happen to Them Stolen Wallet

86% Accessing a credit card number on the Internet

65% Identifying information on Internet sources