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RALEIGH — For the fifth year in a row, complaints about health care topped the N.C. Attorney General's annual list of top consumer troubles.

The Attorney General's Office said it handled 19,031 consumer complaints in 2008. After health care, the most common complaints were about telemarketers, lenders, credit and motor vehicles.

Here are the top 10 consumer complaints in 2008:

1. Health care (4,202 complaints filed in 2008).
Consumers often have problems with medical billing practices or have trouble getting copies of their medical records.

2. Do Not Call/Unwanted Telemarketing Calls (2,441)
Among the top sources of complaints are offers for advance fee credit cards, free grants, or debt consolidation services. Many of these pitches are made using illegal robo calls which invite consumers to press a certain number if they wish to speak with a representative.

3. Lending (2,304)
Complaints about loans often include problems with high interest rates, loan payment charges due to late or missed payments, adjustable rate mortgages, prepayment penalties and loan fees. Many consumers are looking for help dealing with foreclosure or have fallen victim to a foreclosure assistance or loan modification scam. It’s against state law to charge an upfront fee for foreclosure help.

4. Credit (1,692)
Complaints about scams that promise to fix your credit or settle your debts for an upfront fee are increasingly common. Under state law, it’s illegal to charge an upfront fee for credit repair or debt settlement help. Consumers also complain about threatening calls from debt collectors. Identity thieves continue to steal personal financial information and use it to run up debt.

5. Motor Vehicles (1,293)
The most common complaints are pricing, improper diagnosis, unauthorized repairs, failure to honor warranties, and slow repair jobs. The Attorney General's Office also heard complaints about harassment from towing companies and dissatisfaction with new vehicles.

6. Home Furnishings (1,065)
Many of these complaints come from out-of-state consumers who placed orders with North Carolina retailers by telephone or Internet. Consumers often complain that they received the wrong item of furniture, a damaged or defective item, or never received their item at all. Problems often arise when companies close their doors without filling orders.

7. Telecommunications (954)
Many people complain about poor cell phone service or billing problems. Other problems include cramming (when a company tries to sneak unauthorized charges onto a consumer’s phone bill) and slamming (when a consumer’s telephone carrier is changed without their consent).

8. Internet (840)
In many cases, consumers are dissatisfied with their service or face unexpected charges. We also see complaints from consumers who bought products online or through Internet auctions but never got what they paid for. Counterfeit check scams involving online sales continue to rise. In this scam, a consumer gets a certified check for more than the purchase price and is asked to wire back the extra money. The check turns out to be fake, and the consumer is out money.

9. Home Repair (757)
Complaints here are about home construction and repair work that was never performed, contractors who abandoned the job after getting paid, shoddy work, missed deadlines, and cost overruns. There are also scam artists who target seniors and attempt to talk homeowners into a series of expensive and unnecessary repairs.

10. Telemarketing Fraud (576)
The Federal Trade Commission estimates that fraudulent telemarketers scam as much as $40 billion a year from unsuspecting U.S. consumers. These scammers, who are often located outside the U.S., try to lure consumers into giving up money and personal information. Some of the most prevalent telemarketing schemes involve bogus international lottery tickets, advance fee loans and credit cards, government grants, credit card or identity theft protection, and phony prizes or sweepstakes.

For more details about the top 10 consumer complaints, click here (pdf).

To file a complaint, call (877) 566-7226 (5-NO-SCAM) or download a complaint form at www.ncdoj.gov.