Identity Crimes

Statistics

How does identity theft and identity fraud affect us nationally?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN) annually publishes a report based on the number of consumer complaints received regarding fraud and identity theft. In addition to complaints received by the FTC, CSN reports include complaints filed by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), Better Business Bureaus, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Identity Theft Assistance Center, the National Fraud Information Center, and other sources.

The result is an annual national report that aggregates consumer complaints related to fraud that include debt collection; Internet services; prices, sweepstakes, and lotteries; credit cards; telephone and mobile services; and others.

Over the years, the number one complaint received has consistently been identity theft.  The following is the number of identity theft complaints reported by the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network for the past five years:

The number of consumer complaints filed by the FTC’s CSN for the past five years are: 

The most common forms of identity theft reported by the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network for the past five years were:

Information obtained from the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book calendar year2010. Bar graph created by Ingrid Norris, Research Analyst at CIMIP.

Information obtained from the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book calendar year2009. Bar graph created by Ingrid Norris, Research Analyst at CIMIP.

Information obtained from the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data calendar year2008. Bar graph created by Ingrid Norris, Research Analyst at CIMIP.

Information obtained from the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data calendar year 2007. Bar graph created by Ingrid Norris, Research Analyst at CIMIP.

Information obtained from the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data for calendar year 2006. The bar graph created by Ingrid Norris, Research Analyst at CIMIP.

Although the FTC has seen a decrease in the number of identity theft complaints, it is important to follow preventative methods to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.

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