FTC Issues Report of 2009 Top Consumer Complaints

Source: FTC Release: 2/24/2010

The Federal Trade Commission today released a report listing top complaints consumers filed with the agency in 2009. It shows that while identity theft remains the top complaint category, identity theft complaints declined 5 percentage points from 2008.

The FTC is releasing a new animated video showing how people can file a complaint, and offers examples of what complaints the FTC handles. To watch the video, visithttp://ftc.gov/multimedia/video/scam-watch/file-a-complaint.shtm (also available in Spanish athttp://ftc.gov/multimedia/video/scam-watch/file-a-complaint_es.shtm).

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 50 metropolitan areas reporting the highest incidence of identity theft are noted.

The top complaints were:

A complete list of complaints can be found at: http://www.ftc.gov/sentinel/reports/sentinel-annual-reports/sentinel-cy2009.pdf

See also Consumer Sentinel Network Fact Book (101 pages; PDF) Numerous details, tables, and charts. Statistics everywhere. Essential for consumer collections. Legal collections might also want to have a copy.