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Thursday, February 27, 2014
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Identity Theft Tops List of American Consumers'Complaints
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Identity theft continues to top the Federal Trade Commission's national ranking of consumer complaints, and American consumers reported losing over $1.6 billion to fraud overall in 2013, according to the FTC's annual report on consumer complaints released today.
"Americans of all ages are vulnerable to identity theft, and it remains the most common consumer complaint to the Commission," said Jessica Rich, director, Bureau of Consumer Protection. "We urge consumers to visit FTC.gov/idtheft for tips to prevent and mitigate the damage from identity theft."
The Commission said it received more than two million complaints overall, as reported in the agency's Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2013, of which 290,056, or 14 percent, were identity theft related. Thirty percent of these incidents were tax- or wage-related, which continues to be the largest category within identity theft complaints.
The highest reported age group for identity theft is 20-29, with 20 percent of complaints. Rich says that educating consumers on this topic is a top priority for the agency. Some of the FTC resources include Signs of Identity Theft, Immediate Steps to Repair Identity Theft, and How to Keep Your Personal Information Secure.
Of the more than 1.1 million fraud complaints (classified separately from identity theft) the Commission received, 61 percent of consumers reported an amount of money they had paid, which collectively added up to more than $1.6 billion.
The top 10 complaint categories include debt collection (10%),
banks and lenders (7%), imposter scams (6%), telephone and mobile services (6%), prizes and lotteries (4%), auto-related complaints (4%), shop-at-home and catalog sales (3%), television and electronic media (3%) and advance payment for credit services (2%).
FTC also said that Florida was the state with the highest per capita rate of reported identity theft and fraud complaints, followed by Georgia and California for identity theft complaints, and Nevada and Georgia for fraud and other complaints.
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