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The latest US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) consumer complaints report shows that identity theft is a top concern for US consumers. Identity theft has been the number one concern for US consumers for the last 11 years with the agency receiving more than one million complaints in 2010 of which 19% were related to complaints about identity theft.

Due to the economic climate, government documentation/benefits fraud appeared as the most common form of identity theft (no surprise given high unemployment which currently stands at 10% and stagnating labour market). The next most common form of fraud was credit card and phone utilities fraud, which is linked to the worsening economic climate. Imposter scams (where scammers pose as a family member or legitimate business) appears to be on the increase - it is now in the top 10 complaints for the first time. Complaints about Internet services, sweepstakes, catalog sales, Internet auctions, counterfeit checks, telephone services and credit scores also made the top 10.

Social engineering techniques which use i.e. phishing emails, scareware/rogue antivirus software, fake websites and URL redirector methods, are some of the more common methods used by the cyber criminal community.

Read more about US Identity Theft Protection Services

Source: ID Theft Protect / FTC

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