Scams, Identity Theft Tops Among 1 Million Consumer Complaints to FTC

About 1.3 million consumers complained to the Federal Trade Commission last year, saying they had problems with identity theft, Internet auctions and fake sweepstakes and lotteries.

The number of complaints leveled off in 2010 after years of sharp increases.

The top complaint, for the 11th year in a row, was identity theft. From concerns about public hot spots to fake IRS agents calling for personal W-2 information, con artists have been coming up with new ways (and some tried and true ones) to get people to hand over personal information and take their money.

Debt collectors were also high on the list, with people complaining about being harassed and false accusations.