ID Theft is on the rise according to FTC report

by Steve Ragan - Feb 27 2009, 20:40

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report this week that says ID Theft is on the rise. The report, “Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN) Data Book for January-December 2008,” looks at all of the complaints registered with the FTC for the year and breaks down the numbers. What this report cannot account for is the number of cases not reported by victims of fraud.

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 breakdown, according to the data in the FTC’s databases, is wide reaching and sadly not too shocking.

According to the FTC, of the identity theft complaints filed, the largest volume came from 20-somethings. Those aged 20-29 accounted for 24 percent of the volume. Those aged 30-39 accounted for the second largest volume of complaints with 23 percent, and middle-aged consumers accounted for 19 percent overall.

Credit-card fraud (20 percent) was the most common form of reported identity theft, followed by government documents/benefits fraud (15 percent), employment fraud (15 percent), and phone or utilities fraud (13 percent). Other significant categories of identity theft reported by victims were bank fraud (11 percent) and loan fraud (4 percent).

Finally, the report reveals the location where the most complaints originate from. According to the FTC, Arizona is the state with the highest per capita rate of reported identity theft complaints, followed by California and Florida.

The entire report is online at the FTC Web site. You can access it by clicking here.

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