Sorry, didn't mean to sound like a bad "Cop Rock" episode, but a new FTC press release reminds us that we need to be vigilant about our purchases. The article is here, but I'll post the whole release below the fold, because I think it's important.
The article mentions that online fraud accounts for 46% of the complaints filed last year which, as the owner of a business that sells online, makes me redouble my efforts to stay informed on these issues.
I thought I'd take a second and tell you a bit about our security measures:
1) Our Desert Island Foods™.com site is secured via an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate.2) Our system does not store your credit card information once your transaction is complete. This means you have to enter your credit card number every time you order, but after thinking about it a lot, I decided that the small inconvenience is worth the extra level of security. I hope you do, too.
3) Our customer information is never sold or passed on to marketing companies.
So be vigilant, and do business only with companies you trust, and if you get a 'spoof' email from a company, please do us all a favor and take the time to forward it to the legit company the email is spoofing.
Thanks to John for sending me the link.
FTC Releases Top 10 Consumer Fraud Complaint Categories
Identity Theft Again Leads the ListThe Federal Trade Commission today released its annual report detailing consumer complaints about fraud and identity theft in 2005. Complaints about identity theft topped the list, accounting for 255,000 of more than 686,000 complaints filed with the agency in 2005. The complaints, filed online or at a toll-free number, are shared via a secure database with more than 1,400 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, and law enforcement and consumer protection agencies in Canada and Australia.
"With a call or a click, consumers can file complaints with law enforcers across the country and around the world," said Deborah Platt Majoras, Chairman of the FTC. "These reports provide ammunition that helps law enforcers fight fraud and identity theft."
Identity theft complaints represented 37 percent of the 686,683 complaints filed. Other top categories of fraud complaints for 2005 include:
Internet Auctions - 12 percent
Foreign Money Offers - 8 percent
Shop-at-Home/Catalog Sales - 8 percent
Prizes/Sweepstakes and Lotteries - 7 percent
Internet Services and Computer Complaints - 5 percent
Business Opportunities and Work-at-Home plans - 2 percent
Advance-Fee Loans and Credit Protection - 2 percent
Telephone Services - 2 percent
Other - 17 percentOther findings from the report include:
Internet-related complaints accounted for 46 percent of all fraud complaints.
The percent of Internet-related fraud complaints with "wire transfer" as the reported payment method more than tripled between 2003 and 2005.
The major metropolitan areas with the highest per capita rates of consumer fraud reported were Washington, DC; Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater, FL; and Seattle, WA.
Credit card fraud was the most common form of reported identity theft, followed by phone or utilities fraud, bank fraud, and employment fraud.
The most frequently reported type of identity theft bank fraud was electronic funds transfers.
The major metropolitan areas with the highest per capita rates of reported identity theft were Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale, AZ; Las Vegas/Paradise, NV; and Riverside/San Bernardino/Ontario, CA.
