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FTC's Top Consumer Complaints in 2008

From the FTC's Press Release on Consumer Complaints.

The Federal Trade Commission today released the list of top consumer complaints received by the agency in 2008. The list, contained in the publication "Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book for January-December 2008," showed that for the ninth year in a row, identity theft was the number one consumer complaint category. Of 1,223,370 complaints received in 2008, 313,982 - or 26 percent - were related to identity theft.

The report breaks out complaint data on a state-by-state basis and also contains data about the 50 metropolitan areas reporting the highest per capita incidence of fraud and other complaints.  In addition, the report sets forth the 50 metropolitan areas reporting the highest incidence of identity theft.

The report states that credit card fraud was the most common form of reported identity theft at 20 percent, followed by government documents/benefits fraud at 15 percent, employment fraud at 15 percent, phone or utilities fraud at 13 percent, bank fraud at 11 percent and loan fraud at four percent.

The top 20 complaint categories were:

RankCategoryComplaints%1Identity Theft313,982262Third Party and Creditor Debt Collection104,64293Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales52,61544Internet Services52,10245Foreign Money Offers and Counterfeit Check Scams38,50536Credit Bureaus, Information Furnishers and Report Users34,94037Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries33,34038Television and Electronic Media25,93029Banks and Lenders22,890210Telecom Equipment and Mobile Services22,387211Computer Equipment and Software21,442212Business Opportunities, Employment Agencies and Work-at-Home20,286213Internet Auction17,294114Advance-Fee Loans and Credit Protection/Repair17,263115Health Care16,275116Auto Related Complaints14,278117Travel, Vacations and Timeshare Plans13,200118Credit Cards13,196119Magazines and Buyers Clubs10,188120Telephone Services9,300

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Full post as published by Misleading Advertising Law on March 02, 2009 (boomark / email).