Financial Crime

Trends

The Consumer Sentinel is a database of consumer complaints made to the FTC that law enforcement can access to 

investigate fraud, identity theft, and other types of financial crimes. Prior to 2015, the most common type of consumer 

complaint reported to the FTC was for fraud. In 2015, however, the most common complaint changed to “other,” a category 

that includes debt collection, funeral services, auto-related scams, and education scams. While the total number of 

complaints has continued to increase every year, it is difficult to attribute the 

growing volume to a rise in fraud or an increase in reporting.A

Did You Know?

75% of consumers who file a fraud 

complaint were contacted by the 

fraudulent company via phone.

A

Households with annual incomes 

of $75,000 or more are 2x as likely 

to experience identity theft as 

households making $24,999 or less.C

1 in 10 identity theft victims

experience severe emotional 

distress, compared to 1 in 3 victims 

of violent crime.C

2017 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Resource Guide: Crime and Victimization Fact Sheets

Financial and economic crimes cost American individuals and businesses billions of dollars every year, causing financial 

and emotional distress. Financial fraud occurs when someone uses deception or misrepresentation for financial gain. 

Financial fraud includes, but is not limited to: mortgage or healthcare fraud, romance scams, sweepstakes, and Internet 

scams. Identity theft, another type of fraud, is related to the misuse of personal information, most often to gain access 

to an individual’s credit card or bank account. Measuring the extent of financial crime is complicated due to the many 

different reporting options available to victims. Some victims report to law enforcement, some report online to government agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and others report to multiple places or do not report the 

crime at all.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)—a 

partnership among the FBI, National White Collar 

Crime Center, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance—

collects complaints about crimes committed online. 

Internet crime encompasses many different types 

of fraud, scams, hacking, and identity theft. The 

IC3 analyzes commonalities among complaints 

and alerts law enforcement and the public about 

emerging Internet crime issues. In 2015, the IC3 

received over 275,000 complaints, a 7% increase

from 2014.B

Complaints Reported to the IC3B

in thousands of complaints

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

350,000

231

207 207

275

337

304

314

290

263 269

288

Complaints Reported to the FTC, by TypeA

in millions of complaints

3.5 million

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Millions

Chart Title

Fraud Identity Theft Other

Fraud

Identity theft

Other

0.91

1.07

0.91

1.26 1.43 1.47

1.90

2.11 2.18

2.63

3.08
SOURCES

A Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, January 

- December 2015, (2016), https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/

reports/consumer-sentinel-network-data-book-january-december2015/160229csn-2015databook.pdf#page=6

B Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2011-2015 Internet Crime Reports, 

https://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreports.aspx

C Bureau of Justice Statistics, Victims of Identity Theft, 2014, (U.S. 

Department of Justice, 2015), https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/

vit14.pdf

D Ron Acierno et al., National Elder Mistreatment Study, (2009), https://www.

ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/226456.pdf

Victims of identity theft experience a wide variety of incidents such as the misuse of existing credit card, bank, and other 

accounts; the creation of new accounts; and the misuse of personal information. In 2014, an estimated 7% of U.S. residents 

age 16 or older had experienced at least one identity theft incident in the past 12 months. Of those identity theft victims, 

86% most recently experienced misuse of existing account information: 42% had existing credit card accounts misused and 

38% had existing bank accounts misused.

C

In the National Elder Mistreatment Study, researchers found 

that 5.2% of older adults were currently experiencing 

financial mistreatment perpetrated by family members.The 

most common form of exploitation was spending money 

without permission.D

In 2015, over $1 billion in financial losses due to Internet 

crime were reported to the IC3. Men consistently reported 

higher financial losses than women, with men age 50 – 59 

reporting the highest losses, totaling about $172 million.

Men and women over age 60 also reported high rates of 

financial loss.B

Current Data on Financial Crime

Percent of Population Experiencing One or More 

Identity Theft IncidentsC

in the last 12 months

Existing credit 

card account

New account

3.1

3.4

0.7 0.5 0.6 0.4

3.2 3.0

2012

2014

5%

Existing 

bank account

Other 

existing account

Personal 

information

0.3 0.3

Family Member ExploitationD

by type of exploitation

Spent money 

without permission

Forged 

signature

Stole 

money

Did not 

give copies

Did not make 

good decisions

Forced 

to sign

3.4

0.7

0.5

0.7

5%

0.3

0.5

Financial Loss Reported to the IC3B

by victim age and sex, in millions of dollars

Over 60

20–29

25.2

129.8

45.7

172.0

115.6

153.2

158.4

105.7

Men

Women

102.3

54.7

50–59

40–49

30–39

$200

Under 20

2.5

5.5

Most Recent Type of Identity Theft ExperiencedC

4.1 3.9

37.3 38.3

7.0 5.6 3.8 3.1

Existing credit 

card account

New account

2012

2014

Existing 

bank account

Other 

existing account

Personal 

information

40.3 41.7

50%