The Federal Trade Commission yesterday released data on the number of “complaints” it received in 2017, and while the total number was lower than what it received in 2016, debt collection was still the most popular topic.
In total, there were 2.68 million complaints in 2017, down from 2.98 million in 2016. While the total number of complaints was lower, the dollar amount lost to fraud in 2017 — $905 million — was $63 million more than what was lost in 2016.
Different from the complaint database maintained by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, complaints filed with the FTC are more along the lines of problems or issues. As noted in one report: the new report states that it refers to “consumer reports” rather than “complaints” because “[o]ften, people make these reports after they have experienced something problematic in the marketplace, avoided a loss, and decided to alert others.”
Debt collection reports made up more than 22% of the total, in 2017. There were 608,535, which is more than 50% higher than the next-most-complained about category, identity theft. However, the number of debt collection complaints has dropped from 903,234 two years ago to the current level, which is about 33% lower.
