Cases of stolen identity accounted for 43 percent of the complaints lodged in the FTC's Consumer Sentinel database. The number of fraud complaints jumped from 220,000 in 2001 to 380,000 in 2002, and the dollar loss consumers attributed to the fraud they reported more than doubled from $160 million in 2001 to $343 million in 2002.

Well, among the various other factors, which were considered for increased number of complaints from 2001 to 2002, was consumer awareness program. More people knew where to complain about fraud and ID theft. The increase in the number of partners to Consumer Sentinel who contribute and use data for enforcement purposes is considered to be another factor too. Forty percent of the complaints in the Sentinel database come through data contributors like the Social Security Administration's Fraud Reporting System, the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, the National Consumers League's National Fraud Information Center and many Better Business Bureaus around the country.

Consumer Sentinel is a database established in 1997 by the FTC in conjunction with the state Attorneys General and Canada's Phone busters. Sentinel currently provides about 630 law enforcement agencies in the U.S., Canada and Australia with access to one million complaints.

Don't pay "up-front" for a loan or credit. Remember that legitimate lenders never "guarantee" a loan or a credit card before you apply, especially if you have bad credit, no credit, or a bankruptcy.