The top 10 most common complaints received by the Illinois Attorney General’s office during 2007 were:

1. Identity theft: 6,388 complaints
2. Credit/financial services: 5,267
3. Promotions and schemes: 3,168
4. Construction and home improvement: 2,714
5. Telecommunications: 2,537
6. New and used auto sales: 1,487
7. Mail order: 1,390
8. Utilities: 908
9. Auto repair: 748
10. Business fraud: 722

Yikes, that’s a lot of ID theft complaints. You should really consider shredding all of your paper garbage before you throw it out and all that other good stuff—whether you live in Illinois or not. [Sun-Times]

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