Identity Theft Tops FTC's Complaint List for 2012
Washington, D.C. — Last year, identity theft once again topped the Federal Trade Commission’s list of top consumer complaints, which the agency issued this week. The FTC also reported that 2012 marked the first year it received more than two million complaints overall, with 18 percent of them related to identify theft.
Of the 369,132 identity theft-related complaints received last year, more than 43 percent were related to tax- or wage-related fraud, according to the FTC’s report, which provides national and state-by-state data. The report also lists the metropolitan areas that generated the most complaints, including the Top 50 metropolitan areas for both fraud and identity theft complaints.
The following are the nine other complaint categories making up the Top 10 complaints of 2012:
Number | Percent | |
Debt collection | 199,721 | 10 percent |
Banks and Lenders | 132,340 | 6 percent |
Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales | 115,184 | 6 percent |
Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries | 98,479 | 5 percent |
Impostor Scams | 82,896 | 4 percent |
Internet Services | 81,438 | 4 percent |
Auto-Related Complaints | 78,062 | 4 percent |
Telephone and Mobile Services | 76,783 | 4 percent |
Credit Cards | 51,550 | 3 percent |
A complete list of all complaint categories is available on page six of the report.
The FTC enters complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database that is available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies across the country. Agencies use the data to research cases, identify victims and track possible targets.
Other federal and state law enforcement agencies contribute to Consumer Sentinel, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and the offices of 14 state attorneys general. Private-sector organizations contributing data include all Better Business Bureaus in the U.S. and Canada, PrivacyStar, Publishers Clearing House and others.
More Industry

Pennsylvania Dealership Under New Retailers
The sale of the Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram store puts a family auto group on a leaner path as first-time dealers take the helm.
Read More →
Battery Storage Takes Priority Over EVs
U.S. automakers are prioritizing battery energy stationary storage over electric-vehicle production as the consumer demand for EVs lags the rest of the world.
Read More →
Auto Dealers Feel Better But Not Great
A second-quarter Cox Automotive poll of franchised retailers and independents found better views of the current market after a good spring but anticipation of third-quarter storminess.
Read More →
New-Vehicle Sales Picture Relative
A May forecast is complicated by last spring’s trade tariff effects on auto retail. Despite continued hard realities, many consumers took advantage of ways to bite the bullet.
Read More →
Auto Group Acquires Third Nissan Rooftop
Iowa-based Coleman Automotive Group recently acquired its seventh dealership, McGrath Nissan, which it renamed Nissan of Elgin.
Read More →
April Less Affordable
Based on prices, reduced incentives and slower household income growth, consumers found it more challenging to buy new last month, Cox Automotive reported.
Read More →
Building an Extraordinary F&I Agency
Work to determine your specialized talent, because that fact will determine everything about your agency’s future.
Read More →
Recipe for Compliance
The secret to both amazing barbecue and compliance is the same: understanding the basics and committing to a process.
Read More →
EVs Getting More Attractive
A growing percentage of U.S. consumers are open to switching and fewer are adverse to the idea, according to a recently completed survey. That’s despite the end of a tax break.
Read More →
EV Sales Drop in April Following Surge
North American electric-vehicle sales were down 28% year-over-year, a sharp contrast from global EV sales growth of 6%.
Read More →