Bankruptcy

Personal Finance News Roundup: 12/12/2009

By Chris Kramer

This week, many November numbers about money and credit were released, with some surprising findings. Here?s a summary of a few important figures.

November Consumer Bankruptcy Filings Down 18 Percent

The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) reports that personal bankruptcy filings decreased 18 percent last month, compared to October?s numbers. Specifically:

• Total filings: 112,152 consumers filed for bankruptcy in November 2009, compared with 135,913 in October.
• Increase from 2008: A year ago, in November 2008, 99,925 consumers filed for bankruptcy. This year?s figure represents a 12 percent jump.
• Chapter 13 filings: Only 29 percent of consumers who filed for bankruptcy did so under Chapter 13 of the U.S. Bankruptcy code last month, a rate unchanged from October.
• Yearly estimate: Sources predict that total bankruptcies in 2009 will total more than 1.4 million.
• Rate of cyber fraud: Of all online sales, 1.2 percent were found to be fraudulent in 2009, the lowest figure recorded in the 11 years CyberSource has been keeping track.
• Online revenue lost: This year, $3.3 billion was lost to cyber fraud, compared to $4.0 billion last year and $3.7 billion in 2007.
• Some areas still problematic: Online sales of electronics still have fraud rates approximately double those of other retailers.

Retail Sales Drop Surprise 0.3 Percent in November

However, this figure is not considered comprehensive, and will be reevaluated after the government releases its sales data on December 11th. Still, the initial figure has some retailers worried that this year?s holiday shopping season will mirror last year?s, when many Americans were holding onto their money after the tumult of the stock market?s crash.

The retail figures, quoted in this msnbc.com article, apparently don?t include online sales, sales from electronics chains or sales from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., three groups the government?s figures will cover.

Report: Online Fraud Down Overall

In a survey out this month on online scams, the security company CyberSource reports that web fraud has decreased by about 18 percent in the United States in Canada since 2008. Here?s a closer look at the findings:

• Rate of cyber fraud: Of all online sales, 1.2 percent were found to be fraudulent in 2009, the lowest figure recorded in the 11 years CyberSource has been keeping track.
• Online revenue lost: This year, $3.3 billion was lost to cyber fraud, compared to $4.0 billion last year and $3.7 billion in 2007.
• Some areas still problematic: Online sales of electronics still have fraud rates approximately double those of other retailers.

The dip in fraud doesn?t mean you should be any less vigilant when shopping online, though. Be sure to guard your credit card numbers carefully and only shop on secure web sites!

Additional Resources

2009 Online Fraud Report (PDF)

Full post as published by The Bankruptcy Blog on December 12, 2009 (boomark / email).