FTC Releases
List of
Top Consumer
Fraud Complaints
in 2007
The FTC today
released the
list of top
consumer fraud
complaints
received by the
agency in 2007.
The list,
contained in the
publication
“Consumer Fraud
and Identity
Theft Complaint
Data
January-December
2007,” showed
that for the
seventh year in
a row, identity
theft is the
number one
consumer
complaint
category. Of
813,899 total
complaints
received in
2007, 258,427,
or 32 percent,
were related to
identity theft.
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 the
50 metropolitan
areas reporting
the highest
incidence of
identity theft.
The report
states that
credit card
fraud was the
most common form
of reported
identity theft
at 23 percent,
followed by
utilities fraud
at 18 percent,
employment fraud
at 14 percent,
and bank fraud
at 13 percent.
Consumers
reported fraud
losses totaling
more than $1.2
billion; the
median monetary
loss per person
was $349, the
report states.
The top 20
complaint
categories were:
|
Rank
|
Category
|
Complaints
|
%
|
| 1 |
Identity
Theft |
258,427 |
32 |
| 2 |
Shop-at-Home/Catalog
Sales |
62,811 |
8 |
| 3 |
Internet
Services |
42,266 |
5 |
| 4 |
Foreign
Money
Offers |
32,868 |
4 |
| 5 |
Prizes/Sweepstakes
and
Lotteries |
32,162 |
4 |
| 6 |
Computer
Equipment
and
Software |
27,036 |
3 |
| 7 |
Internet
Auctions |
24,376 |
3 |
| 8 |
Health
Care
Claims |
16,097 |
2 |
| 9 |
Travel,
Vacations,
and
Timeshares |
14,903 |
2 |
| 10 |
Advance-Fee
Loans
and
Credit
Protection/Repair |
14,342 |
2 |
| 11 |
Investments |
13,705 |
2 |
| 12 |
Magazines
and
Buyers
Clubs |
12,970 |
2 |
| 13 |
Business
Opportunities
and
Work-at-Home
Plans |
11,362 |
1 |
| 14 |
Real
Estate
(Not
Timeshares) |
9,475 |
1 |
| 15 |
Office
Supplies
and
Services |
9,211 |
1 |
| 16 |
Telephone
Services |
8,155 |
1 |
| 17 |
Employ.
Agencies/Job
Counsel/Overseas
Work |
5,932 |
1 |
|
18 |
Debt
Management/Credit
Counseling |
3,442 |
<1 |
| 19 |
Multi-Level
Mktg./Pyramids/Chain
Letters |
3,092 |
<1 |
| 20 |
Charitable
Solicitations |
1,843 |
<1 |
The FTC
collects
consumer fraud
complaints from
more than 125
other
organizations
and makes them
available to
more than 1,600
civil and
criminal law
enforcement
agencies in the
U.S. and abroad
via Consumer
Sentinel, a
secure, online
database. In
2007, the FTC
received almost
140,000 more
consumer fraud
complaints than
in 2006. These
additional
complaints came
from numerous
data
contributors,
primarily the
Better Business
Bureaus.
