Fraud vs id theft

Date: February 11, 2007
Source: The Enquirer


Fraud outstripped identity theft as the leading consumer complaint in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky for 2006, according to a new report by the Federal Trade Commission.

Identity theft also was less common locally than nationally, the report showed.

The FTC said in its annual report that identity theft accounted for 36 percent, or 246,035, of the national complaints. But locally, various forms of identity theft triggered 30 percent, or 1,205, of the complaints.

ID theft complaints have leveled off after a steep increase earlier this decade. The number of ID theft complaints jumped from almost 162,000 in 2002 to a record 246,882 in 2004, slightly higher than last year's number, the agency said.

Credit card fraud was the most common form of identity theft, the FTC said, making up 25 percent of the complaints, followed by phone or utilities fraud and bank fraud.

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