Showing posts with label US Govt Federal Trade Commission. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

FTC Releases Top 10 Complaint Categories for 2012

For Release: 02/26/2013

FTC Releases Top 10 Complaint Categories for 2012

Identity Theft Tops List for 13th Consecutive Year in Report of National Consumer Complaints

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/02/sentineltop.shtm?wpisrc=nl_tech

Identity theft is once more the top complaint received by the Federal Trade Commission, which has released its 2012 annual report of complaints. 2012 marks the first year in which the FTC received more than 2 million complaints overall, and 369,132, or 18 percent, were related to identity theft. Of those, more than 43 percent related to tax- or wage-related fraud.

The report gives national data, as well as a state-by-state accounting of top complaint categories and a listing of the metropolitan areas that generated the most complaints. This includes the top 50 metropolitan areas for both fraud complaints and identity theft complaints.

The remainder of complaint categories making up the top 10 are:

	Number	Percent
Debt collection	199,721	10 percent
Banks and Lenders	132,340	6 percent
Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales	115,184	6 percent
Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries	98,479	5 percent
Impostor Scams	82,896	4 percent
Internet Services	81,438	4 percent
Auto-Related Complaints	78,062	4 percent
Telephone and Mobile Services	76,783	4 percent
Credit Cards	51,550	3 percent

A complete list of all complaint categories is available on page six of the report.

The FTC enters complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database that is available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies across the country. Agencies use the data to research cases, identify victims and track possible targets.

Other federal and state law enforcement agencies contribute to Consumer Sentinel, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and the offices of 14 state attorneys general. Private-sector organizations contributing data include all Better Business Bureaus in the U.S. and Canada, PrivacyStar, Publishers Clearing House and others.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC's onlineComplaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us onTwitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.

MEDIA CONTACT:: Jay Mayfield
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2181

STAFF CONTACT:: David Torok
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-3075

*****

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Washington Post Tech News Daily: FTC says identity theft is top consumer complaint, By Hayley Tsukayama - and more

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2013/02/washington-post-technews-daily-ftc-says.html

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

In the News

Post Tech by Cecilia Kang

The Circuit: FTC says identity theft is top consumer complaint

By Hayley Tsukayama

FTC says ID theft is top complaint: The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that consumer complaints aboutidentity theft accounted for 18 percent of the 2 million the agency received in 2012.
Of the identity theft complaints, the agency said, 43 percent were related to tax or wage fraud.
Debt collection complaints ranked second, with 10 percent, while complaints about banks and lenders came in third with 6 percent. Complaints about Internet services were the seventh most common complaint, with 4 percent or around just over 81,000 complaints.
Apple lawsuit: Apple has settled with parents who sued the company for making it too easy for kids to rack up charges by buying add-ons to games and other apps.
Under the terms of the settlement, the company is agreeing to give qualifying customers a $5 iTunes credit or, in certain cases, $5 in cash.
Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr declined to comment on the settlement.
The company has always required users to enter their passwords when they download an app, but the company used to also allow them to make additional in-app purchases for 15 minutes without reentering a password. As The Washington Post reported, parents complained that some children were able to accumulate hundreds of dollars in charges during that small window, drawing the scrutiny of state and federal regulators. Apple changed the policy in March 2011 to require a password for purchases, even on newly downloaded apps.
Internet Advocacy Day: Open Web advocates are preparing for Feb. 27, also known as Internet Advocacy Day, in which tech industry leaders and experts take to the Hill to educate Congress about Internet issues.
The day is the brainchild of the Internet Infrastructure Coalition, which is encouraging those interested in Internet issues to contact their members of Congress and promote the mission of Internet advocacy on social networks as part of the effort.
Google said to worry about Samsung: Google is reportedly worried about Samsung’s rising dominance as the main manufacturer of its Android mobile operating system, according to an article from the Wall Street Journal.
According to the report — which cites unnamed “people familiar with the matter” — Google executives are worried that Samsung’s rising dominance will give it too much power and allow the Korean company to eat into Google’s mobile advertising profits.
At a meeting of Google executives last year, the report said, Android head Andy Rubin reportedly said that the company’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility can act as insurance against Samsung’s strength.
Comcast makes new D.C. hires: Comcast announced two new hires for its D.C. offices Tuesday, saying that Ryan Wallach will now be the company’s senior deputy general counsel and Madura Wijewardena will be its new senior director of public policy.
Wallach has previously served as outside counsel for the company, and was special counsel at Willkie, Farr and Gallagher. Wijewardena had previously served as the director of research and policy at the national Urban League in Washington.
Copyright and piracy: After some delays, the Center for Copyright Information announced Monday that it will begin implementing new rules that directly notify users when their connections have been used for illegal downloading.
Also known as the “six strike” rule, the initiative gives users escalating warnings when Internet service providers detect copyrighted material is being shared over peer-to-peer networks. Early warnings are meant to educational while later warnings could result in the slowdown of Internet service for 48 hours.