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FTC Top Fraud Complaints - 2007

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The Federal Trade Commission released its annual 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 identity theft is the number one consumer complaint for the seventh year in a row. Of 813,899 total complaints received in 2007, 258,427, or 32%, were related to identity theft.

Credit card fraud was the most common form of reported identity theft, followed by utilities fraud, employment fraud, and bank fraud. Internet solicitations comprised 64% of fraud complaints - 49% from email and 15% from the web.

Consumers also reported fraud losses totaling more than $1.2 billion. According to the report, the median monetary loss per person was $349. 30.2 million adults, or 13.5% of the adult population surveyed, were victims of fraud in 2007. An estimated 4.8 million U.S. consumers were victims of fraudulent weight-loss products, more than any of the other frauds covered by the survey.

Twenty percent of African Americans and 18% of Hispanics are estimated to have been victims, while the rate for non-Hispanic whites was 12%. In addition, the survey found that younger consumers, those who did not complete college, and those with high levels of debt were more likely to be victims of fraud. Consumers between 65 and 74 years of age were 32 percent less likely to report having experienced fraud than those between 35 and 44.

The FTC offers these tips for consumers:

• Know who you’re dealing with: Do business only with companies that plainly provide their name, street address, and phone number.
• Protect your personal information: Share credit card and other personal information only with companies you know and trust; never share it in email.
• Take your time: Resist the urge to act now. Most any offer that’s good today will be good tomorrow, too.
• Read the small print: Get all promises in writing and read all paperwork before paying any money or signing any contracts.
• Free means free: Throw out any offer that says you have to pay to get a gift or for something that’s called “free.” If something is free or a gift, you shouldn’t have to pay for it.
• Report fraud: If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud, report it. Complain online at ftc.gov or by phone at 1-877-FTC HELP.

To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC Consumer Complain Form or call 1-877-382-4357.