Top fraud complaint: identity theft

Published Thursday, 24 January 2002 5:44PM CST by in Privacy

0

The overwhelming majority (42%) of 204,000 complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) involved identity theft. The next most frequently received complaint (10%) involved Internet auctions.

Identity theft—stealing another’;s identity by using their personal information (usually Social Security and credit card numbers) to commit fraud or carry out a theft—is a growing problem in the United States. Law enforcement agencies report that identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the country. Privacy advocates speculate that up to 750,000 people are victims of identity theft each year.

Additional resources

0 responses. Comments closed for this article.