Fraud:
Reported—Actual—Projected
Prevention/Protection
By Linda K. Verges, CFCI
The Annual Review of the
Federal Trade Commission,
released on March 6, 2015,
reported that consumers lost
$1.7 billion to scams and
frauds, according to the reports
filed with the FTC in 2014.
The top ten categories of the
2.5 million complaints actually
filed are:
Identity Theft—13 percent.
Of the 332,646 identity theft
complaints filed:
more than 33 percent
were related to Social
Security, Medicare and
other government
benefit programs;
17 percent were related
to fraudulent use of
credit cards;
13 percent were related to
phone or utilities fraud;
8 percent were related to
money stolen from
bank accounts
Banks and Lenders—5 percent The $1.7 billion in reported
losses is approximately $57
Sweepstakes and Lotteries— million more than the amount
4 percent
reported in 2013.
Auto-Related Complaints—
3 percent
Debt Collection—11 percent
imposters
Shop-at-Home/Catalog Sales
3 percent
Scams—11 percent
telephone/mobile
Electronic Media—
2 percent
Services—7 percent
Services—
2 percent
Based on the number of
complaints filed, the prime
target areas or highest risk
locales in the United States are
Florida, Washington, Oregon,
Missouri, Georgia, Nevada,
Delaware and Michigan.
Continued on page 4
October2015
3
The Credit Professional