ID Theft Tops FTC Complaints
But complaints declined from previous year
February 26, 2010
The Federal Trade Commission’s latest identity theft numbers (pdf) are in – and while the crime still tops the list of complaints filed with the agency, total identity theft complaints are down, having dropped five percentage points from 2008 to 2009.
According to the FTC, which maintains a secure online database of complaints available to law enforcement agencies nationwide, 278,078 people filed identity theft complaints with the agency, as well as participating institutions including the Internet Crime Complaint Center, Better Business Bureaus, the Identity Theft Assistance Center, and others, in 2009. Identity theft accounted for 21 percent of the complaints in the database (“Third party and Creditor Debt Collection” came in second, at 9 percent).
Among the report’s highlights:
• Credit card fraud (17%) was the most common complaint, followed by government documents/benefits fraud (16%), phone or utilities fraud (15%), and employment fraud (13%).
• There were a considerable number of complaints for bank fraud (10%) and loan fraud (4%).
• Identity theft-related credit card fraud decreased 6% since 2007. Identity theft complaints dropped by 5% from 2008.
• 42% who complained of identity theft noted whether they contacted law enforcement; 72% of those consumers notified police. 62% say a report was taken.
• Florida had the highest per capita rate of identity theft complaint reports, followed by Arizona and Texas.
Those who want to learn more about filing complaints with the FTC may want to check out the agency’s new animated how-to, either in English or in Spanish. And if you’re not already doing so, you may want to take some basic safeguards to protect yourself from identity-related fraud: keep sensitive data in a secure place, monitor your bank and credit accounts daily, and take advantage of the opportunity to review your credit report at least once a year (free of charge) with each of the three major credit reporting agencies using www.annualcreditreport.com.• There were a considerable number of complaints for bank fraud (10%) and loan fraud (4%).
• Identity theft-related credit card fraud decreased 6% since 2007. Identity theft complaints dropped by 5% from 2008.
• 42% who complained of identity theft noted whether they contacted law enforcement; 72% of those consumers notified police. 62% say a report was taken.
• Florida had the highest per capita rate of identity theft complaint reports, followed by Arizona and Texas.
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