Tags: identity | theft | consumer | complaints

Identity Theft Leads Top Consumer Complaints

Thursday, 27 February 2014 11:44 AM EST

The seemingly intractable problem of identity theft once again led the list of top consumer complaints in 2013, with U.S. consumers reporting that they lost $1.6 billion to various types of fraud, the Federal Trade Commission said in a report released Thursday.

Of the 2 million consumer complaints that the commission received last year, 290,056, or 14 percent, were related to identity theft, the FTC said. Florida had the highest per capita rate of identity theft.

"This (identify theft) has topped the list since at least 2006," said David Torok, director of the FTC's Division of Planning and Information.

Identity thieves can make purchases on credit cards they don't own or make withdrawals from the victim's bank account, among other kinds of fraud.

Ten percent of consumer complaints to the FTC, or 204,644, were related to debt collection such as a collector trying to collect a debt that wasn't owed, harassing a debtor or making false statements about the debt.

Another 7 percent of complaints were related to banks and lenders, such as payday loan problems or unexpected overdraft charges. Imposter scams, such as people claiming to be from the government and demanding payment of a debt that doesn't exist, was at 6 percent.

Complaints about telephone and mobile services were also at 6 percent each, including unexpected charges on mobile or phone bills.

Rounding out the top 10 consumer complaints were concerns about prizes and lotteries (4 percent), auto-related complaints (4 percent), shop-at-home and catalog sales (3 percent), television and electronic media (3 percent) and advance payment for credit services (2 percent).

© 2026 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.


Personal-Finance
The seemingly intractable problem of identity theft once again led the list of top consumer complaints in 2013, with U.S. consumers reporting that they lost $1.6 billion to various types of fraud, the Federal Trade Commission said in a report released Thursday.
identity,theft,consumer,complaints
263
2014-44-27
Thursday, 27 February 2014 11:44 AM
Newsmax Media, Inc.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 
Get Newsmax Text Alerts
TOP

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
MONEYNEWS.COM
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
NEWSMAX.COM
MONEYNEWS.COM
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved