The States Most at Risk to Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud Ranked

423 cases per 100,000 resident for state with highest identity theft

This post originally appeared on Finder.com.

As the world continues to cope with COVID-19, America is seeing cases of identity theft soar to record highs. Of the 3.2 million reports to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book in 2019, 20% — or 650,572 — related to identity theft. And already in the first quarter of 2020, reports of fraud and identity theft are up 20.1% from the previous quarter. 

The numbers could rise as more people continue to work from home and new reports of coronavirus-related fraud and scams come in. 

Among these all-time-high cases, credit card fraud leads the charge. 

Identity Theft vs. Account Takeover

Identity theft involves the unauthorized access of personal information, such as your name and Social Security number. Account takeover is when a fraudster accesses account information, such as credit card numbers, with the intent of committing fraud on existing accounts. 

In 2019, victims reported $160.3 million worth of losses resulting from identity theft, according to the FBI. Credit card fraud made up the overwhelming majority of that $160.3 million.

This number represents only what was reported through the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. However, and doesn’t account for reports made directly to field agents. 

Most Common Types of Identity Theft

Swiping the competition in 2019 was credit card fraud, which accounted for 41.78% of all identity theft reports to the FBI, followed by other identity theft, which includes fraud conducted via email and social media. The least common was government documents or benefit fraud at 3.54%.

Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud by State

The dubious honor of state with the most identity theft reports goes to Georgia, with the Peach State logging 423 cases per 100,000 people in 2019–176 of those falling under the credit card fraud umbrella. 

Florida came in just south of Georgia with 154 cases of credit card fraud per 100,000 people, followed by California and Texas. 

The state with the fewest number of reports was South Dakota, with 47 reports of fraud per 100,000 people, followed by Vermont and Wyoming. 

Several states in the middle of the country also came in at the middle of the pack, like Missouri and Colorado, with 41 and 45 reports of credit card fraud per capita, respectively. 

Credit Card Fraud by Metro Area

Georgia maintains its top spot in individual metropolitan areas, accounting for three of the five areas with the most reports of identity theft per capita–Warner Robins, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell and Macon-Bibb County. A person convicted of financial transaction card fraud of more than $100.00 within a six-month period in Georgia can be charged with a felony. The ramifications can be a fine of up to $5,000.00 or a prison term of one and five years.  On the flip side, Muncie, Indiana, logged the least number of reports at 37 per 100,000 people, followed by Glens Falls, New York, and Tullahoma-Manchester, Tennessee.

Top 10 metropolitan areas with highest identity theft per 100,000 residents – data

Rank	Metropolitan area	Reports per 100,000 residents	Number of reports
1	Warner Robins, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area	661	1,281
2	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area	570	33,940
3	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area	556	34,458
4	Macon-Bibb County, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area	455	1,045
5	Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area	446	6,027
6	Columbus, GA-AL Metropolitan Statistical Area	433	1,322
7	Columbia, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area	411	3,420
8	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area	410	54,553
9	Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area	367	25,656
10	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area	367	27,637

Top 10 metropolitan areas with lowest identity theft per 100,000 residents – data

Rank	Metropolitan area	Reports per 100,000 residents	Number of reports
1	Muncie, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area	32	37
2	Tullahoma-Manchester, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area	34	35
3	Glens Falls, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area	34	43
4	Lewiston-Auburn, ME Metropolitan Statistical Area	38	41
5	Appleton, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area	41	97
6	Owensboro, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area	41	49
7	Wenatchee, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area	42	50
8	Bismarck, ND Metropolitan Statistical Area	41	54
9	Ogdensburg-Massena, NY Micropolitan Statistical Area	43	46
10	Eau Claire, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area	43	72

Methodology

Finder sourced all data from the Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2019, released by the Federal Trade Commission in January 2020. The Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book uses reports in its Sentinel secure online database available to law enforcement only. These consumer reports are about fraud, identity theft and other consumer protection topics, with more than 3.2 million consumer reports filed in 2019.

The reports in Sentinel are sourced directly from: 

• People who call the FTC’s call center or report online
• Reports filed with other federal, state, local and international law enforcement
• Organizations like the Better Business Bureau and Publishers Clearing House

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