The U.S. Federal Trade Commission reported that in 2004 Americans lost over $547 million to consumer fraud and identity theft schemes, up more than $100 million from the previous year

Risk Management, April, 2005

> The U.S. Federal Trade Commission reported that in 2004 Americans lost over $547 million to consumer fraud and identity theft schemes, up more than $100 million from the previous year. Of the more than 635,000 consumer fraud complaints filed, 61% were for fraud and 39% were for identity theft. The top fraud categories included internet auctions and shop-at-home and catalog sales while credit card fraud and bank fraud were among the most common types of identity theft.