Identity theft tops the list of complaints culled from the federal watchdog's database of more than 300,000 consumer concerns voiced in 2000.

by ISP-Planet Staff [January 31, 2001]

In order to stem the flow of illicit gains made by grafters on the Net, consumers and law enforcement agencies are now able to tap into a new Web-based resource.

The Consumer Sentinel is a partially public Web destination packed with a pile of information about fraud on the Internet. The Federal Trade Commission crafted the resource in an attempt to help consumers thwart fraud and online deception, ultimately avoiding the pitfalls of being bamboozled.

The underlying database of the Consumer Sentinel contains 300,000 complaints lodged with the FTC last year. The information has been shared with more than 250 law enforcement partners in the U.S. and abroad.

The initiative is a multi-agency project whose partners include the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), National Consumers League, Better Business Bureaus, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. International partners include Canada's Phonebusters and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). More than 80 public and private organizations also contributed consumer complaints to the database.

Jodie Bernstein, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection director, said there's strength in numbers.

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"This site will let consumers in on fascinating data about fraud and deception, including the latest fraud trends, specific scams, dollars spent, and information about how to recognize and avoid fraud and deception," Bernstein said. "We hope consumers will find the site informative and helpful."

Law enforcement agencies have access to the Sentinel's Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse, the nation's repository for identity theft complaints. In addition to consumer complaints, Sentinel offers its law enforcement members a variety of tools to facilitate ongoing investigations and current prosecutions.

Ken Hunter, Council of Better Business Bureaus president and chief executive officer, said the initiative would help stop scam artists from hoodwinking gullible consumers out of their hard-earned cash.

Consumers who visit the new site can review data that shows such information as:

• Scams that garner the most frequent consumer complaints
• Scams that cost consumers most
• Location of companies complained about, by state and by province
• Number of identity theft complaints, by state
• Types of identity theft most frequently reported.

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For example, consumers can see that for the year 2000, Internet services and computers generated the second greatest number of complaints (top), but that the category is ranked sixth on the list of what scams cost consumers the most money (left).

In addition to the statistics about online fraud and identity theft, consumers can use the new Web resource to file a complaint or simply learn about the organizations that contribute to the consumer database.

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