U.S. consumers experienced the highest level of identity theft in three years in 2012, although much of the fraud losses were absorbed by banks and merchants, according to a new survey. Incidents of identity fraud affected 5.26 percent of U.S. adults last year, according to a survey of 5,249 people by Javelin Strategy and Research. That's up from 4.9 percent in 2011 and 4.35 percent in 2010. The company put the total number of identity victims in 2012 at 12.6 million.