Identity theft is leading fraud claim, government says

WASHINGTON -- Identity theft was the leading consumer fraud complaint reported last year, far exceeding gripes about Internet auctions and services.

Of the 204,000 complaints compiled by the Federal Trade Commission, 42 percent involved identity theft, the agency said Wednesday. The figures come from a government database that collects complaints from more than 50 law enforcement and consumer groups.

Other top consumer fraud complaints were problems with Internet auctions (10 percent), involving goods that were delivered late or not at all, and items less valuable than advertised; deceptive trial offers and charges from Internet and computer services (7 percent); and shop-at-home and catalog offers that failed to deliver or honor guarantees (6 percent).

The hijacking of someone's identity information, such as credit card or Social Security numbers, to steal money or commit fraud is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the United States. Privacy advocates have said the number of people victimized by identity theft may be as high as 750,000 a year.

The high number of identity theft complaints last year may partly reflect the FTC's emphasis on investigating this kind of fraud and its use of a toll-free number for those complaints, said Howard Beales, the agency's director of consumer protection.

He said consumers should avoid leaving their credit card receipts where they could be found and writing Social Security numbers on checks.

"In the bulk of the cases, the consumer doesn't know how their identity got stolen," Beales said at a news conference.

Credit card fraud accounted for 42 percent of identity theft complaints, followed by scams where phone or utility accounts were created in a person's name without his or her knowledge.

The District of Columbia had the highest rate of identity theft in 2001 with 77 victims for every 100,000 people. California and Nevada followed with 45 and 41 victims per 100,000 people, respectively.

Last week, a Seattle man was sentenced to more than two years in federal prison for stealing identity information from the garbage cans and mailboxes of almost 400 victims. A day later, police in Washington state said they cracked an identity theft ring, seizing a huge amount of stolen mail, paperwork bearing Social Security numbers, forged receipts, equipment for making fake driver's licenses, and maps of mail routes.

In more advanced cases, hackers have penetrated corporations' databases and download credit card numbers and other data.

Most victims of identity theft eventually recoup their lost money, but they also suffer damage to their credit records and invasion of privacy.

In November, the Supreme Court ruled that victims of identity theft or other credit fraud cannot stretch a two-year deadline to sue companies that collect or spread bad information, even if the victims don't learn of the problem until it is too late.

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