United States - FTC Survey for 2011 Shows an Estimated 25.6 Million Americans Fell Victim to Fraud

The FTC released a statistical survey of fraud in the United States during 2011, which showed that an estimated 25.6 million adults – 10.8 percent of the adult population – were fraud victims. The top two categories of fraud were Weight-loss Products (5.1 million estimated) and Prize Promotions (2.4 million est.) The survey found that high school graduates were less likely than those who did not complete high school to have been victims. Consumers who were more willing to take risks and those who had recently experienced a negative life event (such as a divorce, death of a family member or close friend, serious injury or illness in their family, or the loss of a job) were much more likely to have been victims. Consumers who indicated they had more debt than they could handle were significantly more likely to have been fraud victims than those who were more comfortable with the amount of debt they had.