ID theft again tops consumer concerns, says FTC

Identity theft was the top complaint filed by US residents to the Federal Trade Commission in 2011, with Internet-related fraud also a top concern, the agency said Tuesday.

Fifteen percent of the 1.8 million complaints the FTC received through its online Consumer Sentinel Network involved ID theft, the agency said.

Fifty-five percent of the complaints involved some type of other fraud, and of the people who reported where that fraud originated, 43 percent said email and 13 percent said a website. Twenty-nine percent of the fraud complaints started with a phone call, the FTC said. Under identity theft, government benefits or documents fraud made up 27 percent of the complaints, credit card fraud made up 14 percent and telephone or utilities fraud made up 13 percent, the FTC said.