FTC Releases Top 10 Complaint Categories for 2012

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its top 10 complaint categories for 2012. For the first time ever, the agency received more than two million complaints. Of the two million complaints, 18 percent were related to identity theft. Of those 18 percent, almost half were related to tax or wage fraud.

Here is a complete list of the top 10 complaint categories:
Identity Theft - 369,132 complaints
Debt collection - 199,721 complaints
Banks and Lenders - 132,340 complaints
Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales - 115,184 complaints
Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries - 98,479 complaints
Impostor Scams - 98,479 complaints
Internet Services - 81,438 complaints
Auto-Related Complaints - 78,062 complaints
Telephone and Mobile Services - 76,783 complaints
Credit Cards - 51,550 complaints

The FTC uses the Consumer Sentinel Network to record complaints throughout the year. The secure database is available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies across the country and helps agencies research cases and track targets.

Learn more about the 2012 complaints from FTC here
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/02/sentineltop.shtm