[This was originally the Question of the Day, but I changed it.]
Attorney General Lisa Madigan has released her annual list of top 10 consumer complaints. From a press release issued late yesterday afternoon:
Attorney General Lisa Madigan today announced that for the first time in the history of the Illinois Attorney General’s Top 10 Consumer Complaint List, identity theft complaints topped the list, exceeding the other categories by far. Madigan attributes the dramatic increase in consumer complaints concerning ID theft to her office’s new Identity Theft Hotline, announced in February 2006.
Madigan also announced that her office’s Consumer Protection Division received a record number of consumer complaints in the last year. In 2006, the Consumer Protection Division received 32,724 consumer complaints, a more than 18 percent increase over the 26,652 consumer complaints received in 2005. This increase follows a nearly 11 percent increase in consumer complaints in 2005.
And here’s the list:
CATEGORY - # OF COMPLAINTS
1. Identity Theft - 5,237
2. Credit - 3,444
3. Construction/Home Improvement - 3,204
4. Telecommunications - 2,782
5. Promotions and Schemes - 2,261
6. Financial Services - 1,695
7. Motor Vehicles/Used Auto Sales - 1,486
8. Mail Order - 1,475
9. Business to Business Fraud - 815
10. Motor Vehicle/Non-Warranty Repair - 790
Question: Have you ever been tempted to call the AG’s consumer complaints tip line? What’s your story? Without names, of course.