Dateline: May 5, 2015

For the 15th consecutive year, identity theft topped the annual top 10 list of consumer complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2014.

Of the more than 2.5 million consumer complaints received by the FTC, 332,646 (13%) were related to all dastardly forms of identity theft.

According to the FTC’s 2014 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, the agency has also seen a significant increase in the number of consumer complaints about so-called “imposter” scams, in which telemarketing scammers impersonate government officials in an attempt to collect “back taxes” and other debts that don’t really exist.

Making the top three complaint categories for the first time, imposter scams were led by a sharp increase in the number of complaints specifically about IRS imposters.

Overall, imposter scams made up 11% (276,662) of all consumer complaints received by the FTC in 2014.

“While identity theft remains a huge issue, consumers should also keep a close eye out for imposter scams,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection in a press release. “Whether it’s pretending to be the IRS during tax season, or making false promises of a lottery win, scammers are increasingly sophisticated in their efforts to deceive consumers, but the FTC will continue working to shut these scammers down.”

Holding steady as the second-most often reported complaint, illegally abusive and fraudulent debt collection calls accounted for 280,998 (11%) of all complaints.

Rounding out the rest of the FTC’s top-ten hack off list for 2014 were telephone and mobile services; banks and lenders; prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries; auto-related complaints; shop-at-home and catalog sales; television, cable providers and electronic media; and finally, internet service providers.

How the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network Helps Consumers

The FTC started its Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN) in 1997 primarily to collect complaints about consumer fraud and that then fangled identity theft thing. Today, more than 10 million complaints later, the CSN also includes complaints about credit report scams, debt collection and mortgage assistance scams, among other subjects. In addition, the CSN contains over 15 million telemarketing do-not-call list and robocall complaints, which are reported separately in the 2014 National Do Not Call Registry Data Book.

The annual Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book reports on complaints made directly by consumers to the FTC, as well as complaints received by state and federal law enforcement agencies, national consumer protection organizations and non-governmental organizations.

Reports from the CSN are now used by more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies across the country and around the world to research cases of fraud and scams, and to identify victims and possible future targets.

During 2014, the Consumer Sentinel Network received 2,582,851 complaints from the combined sources.

Florida, Washington and Oregon led all states as the source of identity theft reports received during 2014, while Florida, Georgia and Nevada were the top three states for fraud complaints.

The prevalence of identity theft and fraud complaints in Florida may be attributable to the Sunshine State’s large per capita population of senior citizens, sadly the preferred targets of identity thieves and other scammers.

The Federal Trade Commission is an independent, non-partisan federal government agency that works to prevent and protect consumers from fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them.

How to File Complaints

If you have or think you have been a victim of identity theft or otherwise cheated out of you money, or if you have spotted a scam, report it to the FTC. As Americans have seen time-and-time again, “The FTC’s aggressive law enforcement efforts put the bad guys out of business.”

To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).