Get tips on what money problems to avoid from financial agency’s list of 2023 complaints

It’s tough these days making money stretch in shifting economic times.

Get help with smart money moves by taking a look at complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for 2023.

Last year, the CFPB sent more than 1.3 million complaints to over 3,400 companies for review and response, according to the agency’s “Consumer Response Annual Report.”

Complaints about credit or consumer reporting continued to increase in 2023, accounting for more than 81 percent of all consumer complaints sent to companies. The CFPB sent nearly 1.1 million credit or consumer reporting complaints to companies for review and response.

Three nationwide consumer reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion –accounted for more than one million of these complaints.

In their complaints, consumer raised issues related to fraudulent activity in nearly every product category. For example:

• In credit or consumer reporting complaints, consumers raised issues related to identity theft. Consumers reported not recognizing accounts or credit inquiries on their report. Consumers also ran into many difficulties in addressing these inaccuracies with consumer reporting agencies.
• In debt collection complaints, consumers claimed collectors were collecting on loans that the consumer never obtained and resulted from identity theft or fraud.
• In credit card complaints, consumers complained that accounts were fraudulently opened in their name and, at times, used without their authorization or knowledge.
• In checking or savings account complaints, consumers often complained that funds were taken from their accounts through unauthorized or fraudulent transactions. These transactions often involved peer-to-peer platforms.

Rounding out the CFPB’s top 10 complaints of 2023 were: mortgages; money transfers or services and vital currencies; vehicle loans or leases; student loans; personal loans; and prepaid cards.

This chart shows more complaint categories.

For more information on the complaint annual report, visit the CFPB’s website.