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Identity Theft Tops FTC Complaints for 2006

February 8, 2007

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For the seventh year in a row, identity theft tops the Federal Trade Commission's complaint list, accounting for 36 percent of the 674,354 complaints received between January 1 and December 31, 2006.

Distant runners-up include shop-at-home/catalog sales; prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries; Internet services and computer complaints; and Internet auction fraud.

"Consumers' help in stopping unlawful operations is critical," said Deborah Platt Majoras, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. "By filing a complaint with the FTC, consumers are making information available to more than 1,600 law enforcement agencies that have access to our secure database."

"It's as easy as a click or a call," she said. "The FTC has an online complaint form at FTC.gov, or consumers can reach us at 1-877-FTC-HELP."

Other findings from the report include:

• Consumers reported fraud losses totaling more than $1.1 billion; the median monetary loss was $500. Eighty-five percent of the consumers reporting fraud also reported an amount lost.

• The percentage of fraud complaints with wire transfer as the reported payment method continues to increase. Twenty-three percent of the consumers reported wire transfer as the payment method, an increase of eight percentage points from calendar year 2005.

• Credit card fraud (25 percent) was the most common form of reported identity theft, followed by phone or utilities fraud (16 percent), bank fraud (16 percent), and employment fraud (14 percent).

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