Bankruptcy

Top Consumer Complaints of 2010

By guest-writer

The Federal Trade Commission has released a report on the consumer complaints it received from Americans in 2010, and the list illuminates many of the financial and privacy concerns important to the American people.

Here?s a look at the top ten issues that sparked the most consumer outrage, as well as some tips for dealing with a problem new this year.

• Identity theft: For the 11th year in a row, identity theft earned the top spot for number of consumer complaints, with 19 percent of all complaints filed (a whopping 250,854).
• Debt collection: If you?ve ever dealt with abusive debt collectors, it may not surprise you to learn that issues with this group caused the second greatest number of complaints among consumers (144,159, or 11 percent of all complaints).
• Internet services: Whether for fraudulent offers or subpar service, Internet providers landed third for most consumer complaints, five percent of all complaints (65,565).
• Prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries: In fourth place came this type of scam, which often offers phony rewards after the victim pays a bogus entry fee. A total of 64,085 complaints were filed about this type of issue, or about five percent of all complaints.
• Shop-at-home and catalog sales: Whether for defective goods, unwieldy return policies or some other act of non-consumer-friendliness, this type of transaction accounted for about four percent of consumer complaints last year (60,205).
• Imposter scams: A new category this year, this type of scam jumped to sixth place, prompting the FTC to issue warnings about how to spot imposter scams to avoid sending money to strangers (details below).
• Internet auctions: Perhaps because of the Internet?s vast scope and inability to fit neatly into regulatory areas, online auctions prompted 56,107 people to file complaints with the FTC.
• Foreign money/counterfeit check scams: Getting blasted when you intended to invest or travel can be especially traumatizing, so it?s no wonder 43,866complaints concerning this category were filed last year.
• Telephone and mobile services: Varying definitions of service options and quality of service provided prompted 37,388 people to file complaints about their communication tools.
• Credit cards: This old classic is still causing us plenty of trouble. Despite the new protections instituted by the Credit CARD Act, 33,258 complaints were still filed about credit cards.

Avoiding Imposter Scams

The FTC?s consumer complaints about imposter scams (that is, scams in which someone pretends to be a government agency or loved one in order to convince a victim to part with money or sensitive information) prompted the release of a report on how to spot and avoid such scams.

In general, avoid wiring money to anyone you don?t know, be wary if someone pushes you to act quickly to make a transaction, don?t transmit sensitive information by text message and always confirm a person?s identity before making a major financial move.

Full post as published by The Bankruptcy Blog on March 14, 2011 (boomark / email).