Identity theft topped the list of the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer fraud complaints for the third year in a row, accounting for 43 % of the complaints lodged in the agency’s Consumer Sentinel database for 2002.
The overall number of fraud complaints jumped to 380,000 last year from 220,000 in 2001, and the dollar loss consumers attributed to the fraud grew to $343 million in 2002 from $160 million the year before.
Other top consumer fraud complaint categories last year included:
* Internet auctions – 13%
* Internet services and computer complaints – 6%
*Advance fee loans and credit protection – 5%
* Shop-at-home/catalog sales – 5%
* Foreign money offers – 4%
* Prizes/sweepstakes and lotteries – 4%
* Business opportunity and work-at-home plans – 3%
* Telephone services – 2%
* Health care – 2%
* Magazines and buyers clubs – 2%
