Identity Theft Tops FTC Top 10 Consumer Complaints Report (Again)

ITACadmin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:20:46 +0000

The Federal Trade Commission this week released the list of top consumer complaints received by the agency in 2010. The list showed that for the 11th year in a row, identity theft was the number one consumer complaint category. Of 1,339,265 complaints received in 2010, 250,854 – or 19 percent – were related to identity theft. Debt collection complaints were in second place, with 144,159 complaints.

The report breaks out complaint data on a state-by-state basis and also contains data about the 50 metropolitan areas reporting the highest per capita incidence of fraud and other complaints. In addition, the 50 metropolitan areas reporting the highest incidence of identity theft are noted.

For the first time, “imposter scams” – where imposters posed as friends, family, respected companies or government agencies to get consumers to send them money – made the top 10. The FTC also has issued a new consumer alert, “Spotting an Imposter”, to help consumers avoid imposter scams.

Read more from the Federal Trade Commission here.

PODCAST: Katrina Blodgett, Division of Privacy and Protections, Federal Trade Commission

ITACadmin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:46:44 +0000

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been making some significant headlines regarding identity theft these days: the recent announcement of top consumer complaints for 2009, and the news regarding the dangers of peer-to-peer networks. We were fortunate enough to interview Katrina Blodgett, Senior Staff Attorney, Division of Privacy and Protection, Federal Trade Commission, on these very topics. Check out this exclusive podcast!

ITAC Blog » FTC Top Consumer Complaints

Identity Theft Tops FTC Top 10 Consumer Complaints Report (Again)

PODCAST: Katrina Blodgett, Division of Privacy and Protections, Federal Trade Commission