ID Theft Tops List of 2008 Consumer Complaints

[jkouns <jkouns () opensecurityfoundation org>]

ID Theft Tops List of 2008 Consumer Complaints
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2341892,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05079TX1K0000992

Despite an increased awareness of identity theft in recent years, the 
crime was still the top consumer complaint in 2008, according to a 
report released this week.

The Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN) received 313,982 ID theft complaints 
last year, or 26 percent of all reported problems.

CSN is a secure online database that houses complaints made to the 
Federal Trade Commission, the Internet Crime Complaint Center, Better 
Business Bureaus, the Identity Theft Assistance Center, and the National 
Fraud Information Center, among others.

On the state level, Arizona had the highest per capita rate of reported 
ID theft, followed by California and Florida.

Credit card fraud was the most common form of ID theft, with 20 percent. 
Fraud related to government documents and benefits as well as employment 
fraud both captured 15 percent of the complaints, while phone and 
utilities were at 13 percent, and bank fraud had about 11 percent.

Electronic fund transfer-related ID theft was the most commonly reported 
type of bank fraud last year, though that declined slightly since 2006.

ID theft related to government documents and benefits was up 4 percent 
from last year. Fraudulent tax return-related identity theft, a subtype 
of this type of fraud, has increased nearly six percentage points since 
calendar year 2006, the report said.

[..]

Report can be found here:
http://www.ftc.gov/sentinel/reports/sentinel-annual-reports/sentinel-cy2008.pdf
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