Last year marks the first time consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission, now being run by the Trump administration, have declined since it began collecting them in 2011.
During 2017, complaints from 2.68 million consumers were received, a decrease from 2016 when 2.98 million consumers submitted complaints, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s 2017 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book.
The complaints about fraud, identity theft, and other types of consumer concerns resulted in losses of about $905 million to fraud in 2017 – $63 million more than in 2016.
Although complaints about debt collection declined between 2016 and 2017, it remained the top consumer complaint category, making up about 23 percent of complaints.
Identity theft was the second largest category, making up nearly 14 percent of complaints. Credit card fraud was the most common type of identity theft reported by consumers. Tax fraud was the second despite falling by 46 percent from 2016.
For the first time, the 2017 data book includes information on fraud losses by age groups. Consumers in their 20s reporting losing money to fraud more often than those over age 70. For example, people aged 20-29 who reported fraud, 40 percent lost money. For those 70 and older, 18 percent lost money to fraud. When older adults reported losing money to a scammer, the average amount lost was greater. The average loss for people age 80 and older was $1,092 compared to $400 for those aged 20-29.
Imposter scams were the third most common consumer complaint. Consumers reported losing more money to imposter scams – $328 million – than any other type of fraud. Imposter scams are when someone pretends to be a government official, tech support representative, a loved one in trouble, or someone else to get money. Nearly one in five consumers who reported an imposter scam said they lost money to the fraud.
For all types of fraud, the average loss was $429. People who reported travel, vacation, and timeshare fraud said they lost an average of $1,710 – the highest individual loss amount compared with other scams. Military consumers reported losing the most money to imposter scams, $26 million. The average fraud losses reported by members of the military were more than 44 percent higher than the general population, with military consumers reporting an average fraud loss of $619.
As in previous years, fraud complaints indicated that wire transfer was the most widely used form of payment, and 70 percent of consumers reported that scammers contacted them by phone.
In addition to national statistics, state and metropolitan area complaints per capita are included. The top states in 2017 reporting fraud were Florida, Georgia, and Nevada, while Michigan, Florida, and California had the most reports about identity theft.
