Antitrust and Trade Regulation/Criminal Process: FTC Issues 2010 Report on Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaints

On March 8, the Federal Trade Commission issued the Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book for 2010. The Data Book, which includes data for consumer complaints that the FTC received in 2010, notes that for the 11th year in a row, identity theft was the leading category of consumer complaints received (250,854, constituting 19 percent of all complaints). Debt collection was the second-highest category of complaints in 2010 (144,159, constituting 11 percent), as it was in 2009. So-called “imposter scams” – i.e., schemes in which fraudsters posed as friends, family, respected companies, or even government agencies to persuade consumers to send them money – made the top 10 for the first time.