According to a study that was just released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), identity theft is the most-complained-about consumer fraud. Of 686, 683 complaints that they receieved, 37% (255, 565) were about identity theft. Number two on the list was online auction fraud, weighing in at 12%. Third? Foreign money offers (ahhh, the famous Nigerian bank scam). All in all, 46% of all complaints were somehow related to the internet. The top three major metro areas in terms of the per capita rate of consumer fraud were Washington, D.C., Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater, and Seattle.
[Via: The Checkout]
I know — and still no decent laws to protect against ID theft/punish the criminals.