Illinois AG Madigan Reports Uptick in Fraud Complaints

The Illinois Attorney General’s office says the number of identity theft complaints received by her office climbed 18 percent last year.

They were part of more than 20,500 complaints submitted to the office last year.

A major increase in complaints came from reports of data breaches, which rose 1,600 percent. Madigan attributes that increase in part to hackers who stole millions of consumers’ data from Target. In a statement, Madigan says identity theft is “perhaps the most damaging financial scam that affects people today.”