The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released a report showing some statistics on fraud for 2007. These statistics come from people who report incidents of fraud to them, so it’s really limited to USA. The problem worldwide would be much much worse.
The top 20 complaint categories were:
Rank Category Complaints
- Identity Theft 258,427
- Shop-at-Home/Catalog Sales 62,811
- Internet Services 42,266
- Foreign Money Offers 32,868
- Prizes/Sweepstakes and Lotteries 32,162
- Computer Equipment and Software 27,036
- Internet Auctions 24,376
- Health Care Claims 16,097
- Travel, Vacations, and Timeshares 14,903
- Advance-Fee Loans and Credit Protection/Repair 14,342
- Investments 13,705
- Magazines and Buyers Clubs 12,970
- Business Opportunities and Work-at-Home Plans 11,362
- Real Estate (Not Timeshares) 9,475
- Office Supplies and Services 9,211
- Telephone Services 8,155
- Employ. Agencies/Job Counsel/Overseas Work 5,932
- Debt Management/Credit Counseling 3,442
- Multi-Level Mktg./Pyramids/Chain Letters 3,092
- Charitable Solicitations 1,843
That’s 258,427 cases of identity theft in one year, in one country! The total fraud losses recorded in this report totals more than $1.2 billion. The full report is here.