The Federal Trade Commission recently released a report that revealed the Top 30 Consumer Complaints of the Year. The number one complaint on the list was identity fraud, a crime which can cause an innocent individual's bank accounts to dwindle into nothing. When a person's identity is stolen, the thief can typically use the victim's credit cards to make massive purchases. In some situations, the money cannot be recovered, and may force the victim into bankruptcy. Typically, the courts are incredible understanding with these victims who may displayed very impressive and responsible spending habits in the past.

The Federal Trade Commission reports that the most common type of identity theft is tax return refund hijacking. The FTC says that they received up to two million complaints over the past year. 18 percent of all complaints had to do with identity theft. In total, there were 369,132 complaints of identity theft and more than 43 percent of these were tax or wage-related fraud issues. There were over one million fraud-related complaints in total and the Federal Trade Commission believes that all fraud issues lost victims a total of $1.4 billion. Each victim lost an average of $2,350 which can be a lot of money for a family who is currently struggling to keep things afloat.

Government documents/benefits fraud was the most common form of reported identity theft according to the FTC, and accounted for 46 percent of all cases. The second most reported form of identity theft was credit card fraud and that was followed by phone or utilities fraud and then bank fraud. According to the Alabama Consumer, if you are now saddled with accounts and debts that are not yours because of identity theft, then you should hold off on filing bankruptcy until you explore your other options. If all of the debts that you are dealing with are not truly yours, and they are expenses that a thief incurred on your accounts, then you shouldn't have to damage your credit and inconvenience yourself in order to discharge those debts. You will want to send letters to your creditors with police reports and ID theft affidavits proving that the debts that they are contacting you about are illegitimate and don't have to do with you.

According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, if you have been the victim of identity theft then you shouldn't have to suffer from unnecessary bankruptcy. When it comes to your credit report, you have the right to report all ID theft. If the credit reporting agencies keep false accounts on your report, then you can take legal action against them for that decision. Even if you do not choose to file for bankruptcy because of identity theft issues, you still should hire a bankruptcy attorney to assist you in your case. A creative and informative financial attorney can assist you by showing you how deal with your debts and what options are available for you to discharge the expenses.

In some cases, your best option may be to declare bankruptcy, especially if the identity theft allegations are complicated and involve a family member, ex-spouse, or another person that you are closely related to. If you need more information about this type of situation, you can contact a lawyer today. The Find a Bankruptcy attorney directory is full of bankruptcy lawyers and financial advisors all throughout the United States who want to help you with your financial issues. Whether you are dealing with identify theft to a personal debt issue, these lawyers can assist you! Find someone near you today!