GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has released its Top 10 list of complaints for 2016.
Spokesman Frank Frassetto says one notable difference from 2015 was the 45 percent increase with telemarketing complaints, which was a significant jump.
“That was due in large part to these imposter calls that have been bugging Wisconsin consumers over the 2016 year. For example we’re talking about the IRS scams, the tech support scams and things of that nature which are very problematic,” said Frassetto.
Telemarketing was the #1 consumer complaint in 2016 with 3,685. That’s up from 2,550 in 2015.
Another big change from 2015 was the decline in identity theft complaints, going from #3 on the list, to #4 in 2016.
“You might think, oh great, that’s going down. It really is a bit of a misnomer because it returned to 2014 levels after seeing a spike in 2015 due to the tax identity theft element…of identity theft,” Frassetto said. “The good news is it had gone down in large part because the IRS, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, tax software manufactures were busy building more robust security around filing your taxes.”
Read more at www.datcp.wi.gov.
CONSUMER COMPLAINT STATISTICS, 2016
- 1 Telemarketing 3,685
- 2 Landlord/Tenant 1,121
- 3 Telecommunications 698
- 4 Identity Theft 431
- 5 Home Improvement 383
- 6 Gas Pump Accuracy 266
- 7 Motor Vehicle Repair 200
- 8 Motor Vehicle Sales 173
- 9 Computer and Equipment 152
- 10 Warranties 138
