Florida reported the highest number of fraud complaints and the second highest number of identity theft complaints in the nation last year. That’s based on a new report from the Federal Trade Commission.
Floridians made more than 300,000 total fraud and other consumer complaints last year. More than 34,000 of those were about identity theft. Acting Associate Director of the FTC’s Division of Consumer Response Monica Vaca said one of the leading types of fraud is a “government imposter” scam.
“Where you get a phone call and somebody tells you, you haven’t paid the IRS, you haven’t paid your taxes and you’re in trouble, you’re going to have to pay fines, you have to wire money right away to get out of this predicament,” Vaca said, explaining how the scam typically goes.
When it comes to identity theft she said people complained about their information being misused to open new credit card accounts.
The Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area ranked 8th worst in the largest 50 metro areas across the nation for identity theft complaints.
The FTC said the report is not a prevalence study and it does not necessarily mean Floridians are more affected by fraud than people in other states. But Floridians are reporting these cases in higher numbers.
Experts say do not give your personal information to a stranger on the phone. If you are a victim, you can report it at identity theft.gov.