[{"description":"FTC recaps consumer complaint data for 2017: Who’s on the list? lfair March 1, 2018 | 5:17PM FTC recaps consumer complaint data for 2017: Who’s on the list? By Lesley Fair Once bitten, twice shy. That fundamental principle of human behavior is why reputable businesses that work hard to earn consumers’ confidence should support the FTC’s ongoing efforts to fight fraud. According to the FTC’s 2017 Consumer Sentinel Data Book , consumers reported losing a total of $905 million to fraud last year. That’s close to a billion bucks people won’t be able to spend on legitimate products and services from credible companies. That figure is up $63 million from last year, although the total number of reports received from consumers is down from 2.98 million in 2016 to 2.68 million in 2017. Topping the list that no industry wants to be on is debt collection, making up 23% of the total number of complaints. But there are two caveats: 1) that number is down from 2016; and 2) the high number of debt collection reports was due in part to reports submitted by a data contributor who collects complaints via a mobile app. Second on the list is identity theft at 14%. The injury to consumers came in two equally unpalatable flavors. Credit card fraud was the most common manifestation. Tax fraud was next, but the glimmer of hope there is that the total number of tax-related identity theft complaints fell by 46%. Winners of the dubious bronze medal were imposter scams , with consumers reporting financial losses of a whopping $328 million. Imposters wear many masks: “I’m with [big-name tech company] and your computer is riddled with viruses,” “Help, Grampa! I’ve been arrested and need bail money,” and “We’re from [government agency] and we’ll arrest you if you don’t pay us today.” Nearly one in five consumers who reported an imposter scam said they lost money to the fraud. For the first time, the Consumer Sentinel Data Book breaks out fraud losses by reported age groups and here’s a result that may surprise you: Consumers in their 20s reported losing money to fraud more often than those over 70. Among 20-somethings who reported fraud, 40% said they lost money. Compare that with the over-70 crowd, only 18% of whom reported a financial loss. But there’s a troubling aspect to that surprising factoid. When older adults did report losing money to a scammer, the loss was much greater. For example, people 80 and older reported median losses of $1,092 compared to $400 for those in their 20s. Wire transfers continue to be scammers’ preferred payment method and in 70% of the complaints we received, the fraudster contacted the consumer by phone. The top states for reporting fraud were Florida, Georgia and Nevada, while Michigan, Florida and California had the most reports about identity theft, per capita. Stats cats tell us that they find our state-by-state data dive helpful, so we’ve created a new webpage to make it easier to evaluate the information. The bottom line for business people: Educate.   Use your status in the community to spread the word to employees, industry colleagues, and friends about the latest forms of fraud. One way to stay in the know: Sign up for scam alerts from the FTC. Cooperate.  If people you know suspect that their identity has been compromised, send them to identitytheft.gov to create a personal recovery plan. (And remember that your company may have a legal obligation to provide identity theft victims and law enforcers with transaction records related to ID theft.) Report.   When you spot a scam, report it to the FTC . We’re talking about fraud directed to consumers and questionable promotions targeting small businesses. Your reports have helped the FTC and other law enforcement agencies put together cases against the con artists behind bogus business directories, office supply flimflams, and other forms of B2B fraud. Consumer Sentinel is an online database available to civil","titre":"FTC recaps consumer complaint data for 2017: Who’s on the list?","pubDate":"Tue, 06 Oct 2026 08:06:24 +0200","id":3199077,"source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2018/03/ftc-recaps-consumer-complaint-data-2017-whos-list"},{"description":"The Federal Trade Commission today released the National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for Fiscal Year 2025 , which shows that, while overall complaints rose in FY 2025, unwanted calls remain about 48% lower than in FY 2021, when the FTC received approximately five million reports about unwanted calls. The FTC’s annual data book provides detailed information on robocall and live-caller complaints, the topics consumers report most often, and a state-by-state breakdown of registrations and complaints per 100,000 people. As in prior years, calls about reducing debt, imposters, and medical and prescription issues remained among the topics consumers most frequently reported in FY 2025. The National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry lets consumers add their phone numbers and opt out of most legal telemarketing calls. In FY 2025, more than 4.7 million additional phone numbers were added to the Registry, bringing the total to about 258.5 million active registrations as of September 30, 2025—an increase of roughly 1.9% over FY 2024 and nearly 6% higher than FY 2021. While DNC registrations grew modestly, complaints about robocalls, which involve a prerecorded message, continued to make up most DNC violation complaints. The data book also provides a state-by-state analysis of DNC registrations and complaints. As in previous years, New Hampshire continues to rank first in active DNC registrations per 100,000 people, followed by Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Kansas. In FY 2025, the top five states reporting the most DNC complaints per 100,000 people were: Arizona – 1,028 complaints per 100,000 people; Tennessee – 1,017 complaints per 100,000 people; Nevada – 960 complaints per 100,000 people; Illinois – 943 complaints per 100,000 people; and Florida – 933 complaints per 100,000 people. The underlying data in the report is publicly available on the  FTC’s data portal . Information for consumers about the DNC Registry, company-specific DNC requests, and caller ID requirements is available on the FTC’s website. Consumers can sign up for the Registry for free at DoNotCall.gov and find information about  how to protect themselves from unwanted calls. To report unwanted telemarketing calls, consumers can file a complaint at DoNotCall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222. Complaints, registration data, and telemarketer access information are shared with law enforcement through the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel","id":2567732,"pubDate":"Fri, 12 Dec 2025 09:49:51 +0100","titre":"FTC Releases Annual Do Not Call Registry Data Book","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/12/ftc-releases-annual-do-not-call-registry-data-book","source":"Federal Trade Commission - Protecting America's Consumers"}]