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Moving up the ranks is usually cause for celebration, but not this time. Connecticut ranked 16th nationally in the number of identity theft complaints per 100,000 people last year, up from 17th in 2008.
 In 2009, Connecticut residents reported 2,682 cases of identity theft, or about 76 complaints per 100,000 people, the Federal Trade Commission noted in a report this week.
Florida had the most identity theft complaints at 122 per 100,000 residents. South Dakota ranked 50th with the fewest: 29 per 100,000 residents, the FTC report said.
"I think we live in the scam capital," said Denise Richardson, of Hollywood, Fla., and a spokeswoman for LifeLock, an identity theft protection company.
The FTC, which also tallies fraud and consumer complaints, reported that Connecticut residents lodged 12,694 complaints involving either identity theft, fraud or other consumer complaints in 2009, a 9.6 percent increase over the 11,583 complaints reported in 2008.
Nationwide, the total number of consumer complaints rose to 1.3 million last year from about 1.2 million in 2008, up more than 8 percent, the report said.
And how do these scam artists contact their victims? In nearly half of all reported cases the initial contact was by e-mail. Only 10 percent of victims reported being contacted by phone.
Identity theft accounted for about 21 percent of all consumer complaints last year both nationally and in Connecticut.
In 2000, the FTC received 31,000 reports of identity theft, last year the figure stood at more than 278,000.
"The numbers are probably higher," said Richardson, herself a victim of identity theft in 2006. These figures are based on reported cases. There are a lot of cases of fraud and identity theft that aren't reported. These numbers aren't an exact science."
The FTC report notes that only 62 percent of victims of identity theft or fraud notified police and had a report taken.
"Make sure police take a report; it can protect you later, " Richardson said.
If you think you're the victim of identity theft take the following steps:
--Contact one of the three credit bureaus immediately: Experian, Equifax or TransUnion and tell them you want to put a fraud alert out, Richardson said. "By law they are supposed to notify the other credit bureaus," she said.
--Contact your local police department and file a report.
--Notify your credit card companies and bank.
--File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov. Click on "Contact us."
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