Identity Theft Is Top Consumer Complaint of 2010

This posting was written by Jeffrey May,Editor of CCH Trade Regulation Reporter.

For the eleventh consecutive year, identity theft tops the list of consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission, according to an annual report issued March 8.

The 250,854 identity theft complaints accounted for 19 percent of the 1,339,265 total complaints lodged during the 2010 calendar year.

Debt collection complaints were in second place, with 144,159 (11 percent), followed by Internet services (5 percent); prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries (5 percent); and shop-at-home and catalog sales (4 percent).

The number of identity theft complaints far outdistanced complaints in other categories in the top five.

For the first time, "imposter scams"--where imposters posed as friends, family, respected companies, or govcernment agencies to get consumers to sent them money--made the top 10, the agency noted.

Complaints by State, Metropolitan Areas

The 98-page report breaks out complaint data on a state-by-state basis and provides data for 50 metropolitan areas reporting the highest per capita incidence of fraud and the highest incidence of identity theft.

The states with the most fraud complaints per 100,000 people are Colorado, Maryland, Nevada, Alaska, Florida, Arizona, Washington, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Virginia. The states with the most identity theft victims per 100,000 people are Florida, Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Maryland, and Illinois.

The metropolitan areas of more than 100,000 people with the most consumer fraud complaints per 100,000 were (1) Dunn, North Carolina; (2) Greeley, Colorado; (3) Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Washington; (4) Boulder, Colorado; and (5) Thomasville-Lexington, North Carolina.

The metropolitan areas of more than 100,000 people with the most identity theft complaints per 100,000 were (1) Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida; (2) Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas; (3) Dunn, North Carolina; (4) McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas; and (5) Madera, California.

The top 10 complaint categories were:

1. Identity Theft......................250,854 complaints.............19%
2. Debt Collection.....................144,159 complaints.............11%
3. Internet Services...................65,565 complaints..............5%
4. Prizes, Sweepstakes, Lotteries...64,085 complaints.............5%
5. Shop-at-Home, Catalog Sales......60,205 complaints..............4%
6. Imposter Scams......................60,158 complaints..............4%
7. Internet Auctions...................56,107 complaints..............4%
8. Foreign Money Offers.............43,866 complaints.............3%
9. Telephone, Mobil Services......37,388 complaints..............3%
10. Credit Cards.......................33,258 complaints...............2%

The FTC report (“Consumer Sentinel Nework Databook for January--December 2010”) appears here on the FTC website.