FTC Issues Summary of Consumer Complaints for 2015

FTC Debt Collection Consumer Complaints

On March 1, the FTC released a copy of its Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, which summarizes consumer complaints reported to the agency between January 2015 and December 2015. The report, which is published annually and covers rankings for 30 different complaint categories, found debt collection to be the highest volume complaint category, with identity theft issues and imposter scams following close behind. The report attributes the rise in debt collection complaints to a data contributor that began to collect complaints via a mobile application, resulting in a significant increase in complaints related to debt collection calls placed to mobile phones. Additional areas of complaints submitted to the FTC included: (i) telephone and mobile service plans, rates, and charges; (ii) auto-related complaints; (iii) banks and lenders; (iv) credit card billing services and notification practices; (v) foreign money offers and counterfeit check scams; and (vi) education advertising and accreditation. Addressing identity theft and debt collection concerns, FTC Director Jessica Rich emphasized the agency’s ongoing work to combat alleged unlawful and deceptive debt collection practices: “Steps like the recent upgrade to IdentityTheft.gov and our leadership of a nationwide initiative to combat unlawful debt collection practices are critical to our ongoing work to protect consumers from these harms.”