The FTC released its Consumer Sentinel Data Book for last year and the numbers help flesh out what we know about fraud and identity theft. Consumers who submit a complaint to the FTC have the option of identifying themselves as a servicemember, military retiree, veteran, or spouse – and to name their branch of service. In 2016, nearly 116,000 consumers did just that – up from 109,934 in 2015. The majority of military consumer complaints came from former servicemembers.
The big news is, for the first time, imposter scams are military consumers’ number one complaint category, followed by identity theft. About 48,000 or 47% of the military complaints came from current or former members of the Army, the service branch with the largest number of personnel. Of the 45,000 complaints that identified their military pay grade, about 17,000 – or 39% – came from the E1 to E4 enlisted ranks, those personnel just beginning their military careers.
So, why would military consumers file a complaint with the FTC? Your reports matter. In 2016, the FTC brought cases that forced companies like Volkswagen ($10 billion) and Herbalife ($200 million) to refund money to consumers injured by those companies’ deceptive practices, and also directly returned over $160 million to people affected by scams. When you submit a report to the FTC, we get valuable insight into what con artists are doing. We can give you tips and tools to help avoid other scams, too. If you’ve encountered a scammer, please tell the FTC.
