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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

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By

Kelly Larson

Updated

Fact checked

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 FTC, followed by other identity theft, which includes fraud conducted via email and social media. Least common was government documents or benefit fraud at 3.54%.

RankTheft typeNumber of reportsPercentage of reports
1
Credit card fraud
271,823
41.76%
2
Other identity theft
215,682
33.15%
3
Loan or lease fraud
104,699
16.09%
4
Phone or utilies fraud
83,535
12.84%
5
Bank fraud
58,723
9.03%
6
Employment or tax-related fraud
45,564
7.00%
7
Government documents or benefits fraud
23,052
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.

Rank
State
Total identity theft
Credit card fraud
Loan or lease fraud
Phone or utilities fraud
Bank fraud
Employment or tax-related fraud
Government documents or benefits fraud
Other identity theft
1
Georgia
422.8
175.8
94.6
48.5
21.3
12.2
6.5
181.8
2
Florida
301.9
153.9
46.1
36.5
24.9
14.9
9.7
91.6
3
California
257.2
130.3
31.7
22.1
21.7
17.1
8.6
75.5
4
Texas
253.7
93.3
65.9
35.1
18.6
18
7.2
89.4
5
Nevada
251.8
94.4
34.4
24.6
22.3
16.8
8.4
104.7
6
Louisiana
227.6
68.4
73.8
33.4
13.3
11.2
6.3
96.4
7
Delaware
224.7
86.3
34.9
46.1
32.5
8.8
5.9
59.9
8
District of Columbia
219.6
82.7
35.7
33.9
20.4
20
10.9
74.1
9
South Carolina
210.8
71.8
49.4
29.8
15
8.1
5.3
92
10
Maryland
209.7
84.7
34.1
33.1
21
11.4
6.1
77.3
11
New Jersey
205.1
109.9
26.4
26.3
16.7
11.1
7.2
49.5
12
New York
186.8
96.6
22.8
26.3
16.7
11.1
7.2
49.5
13
Illinois
182.6
73.9
29.5
29.5
17.9
12.3
7.1
57.8
14
North Carolina
177.2
64.7
32.6
22.3
12.4
8.7
5.6
73
15
Alabama
172.4
65.7
42.4
21.7
14.4
10.6
5.3
65.9
16
Pennsylvania
163.2
63.7
22.5
26.5
15.7
10.2
6.7
52.6
17
Mississippi
158.4
51.6
42.7
17.9
12.3
10.7
5.8
66.9
18
Tennessee
156.2
50.2
27.6
18.5
15.1
9.1
5.5
68.6
19
Arkansas
149.9
40.2
23.5
17.7
13.5
12.6
5.3
70.5
20
Arizona
147.6
56.4
18.6
20.5
15.7
20.4
6.3
42.9
21
Utah
146.7
59.7
36.4
16.8
12.8
10
3.7
61.7
22
Michigan
135.5
46.9
16.2
31
13.1
9.8
5.5
40.6
23
Connecticut
128
58.8
13.6
23.3
16.2
12.4
5
26.3
24
Massachusetts
124.9
49
8.5
15.2
14.9
9
4.3
44
25
Missouri
120.7
41
22.2
19.8
16.5
9.4
5.4
40.8
26
Virginia
120.5
45.8
20.3
15.5
14.6
7
3.8
40.3
27
Ohio
118
48.2
16
<20 />
12.6
8.5
4.5
35.8
28
Colorado
108.9
44.6
11
15.5
16.8
13.4
5.4
25.5
29
Rhode Island
108.2
43.3
9.3
18.5
13.5
9.2
5.9
29.9
30
New Mexico
99.6
33.9
12.9
13.2
16.6
14.9
6.7
24.4
31
New Hampshire
95.8
43.7
5.4
25.4
11.9
4
3.9
18.1
32
Hawaii
95.1
44.2
12
8.5
12.9
3.9
3.9
28.8
33
Oregon
95
36.3
7.9
19.5
15.6
8.3
6
21.7
34
Indiana
94.9
33.2
12.3
14.2
10.8
7.8
5.8
31.2
35
Oklahoma
93.7
32.6
11.7
12
14
9.6
10.3
26.2
36
Washington
93.4
38.5
9.7
12.2
18.2
9.4
5.7
23.2
37
Wisconsin
86.3
33.2
12.6
11.4
11.4
7.4
3.7
25.7
38
Minnesota
79.8
39.9
7.2
10
12.3
5.9
3.3
16.7
39
Idaho
79.5
25.1
7.7
8.2
24.3
4.6
3
18.4
40
Kansas
78
31.6
9.3
11.5
13.3
7.7
3.9
19.3
41
Alaska
73.7
25.4
7.2
13
9.6
6.3
4.1
23.2
42
Nebraska
68.2
23.6
5.9
10
12
11.1
4.7
16.9
43
Nebraska
68.2
23.6
5.9
10
12
11.1
4.7
16.9
44
Montana
66.2
23.3
3.6
17
8.5
5.9
5.6
15.2
45
Iowa
60.5
21.8
5.6
9.4
10.6
6.6
3.5
16.5
46
Maine
60
17.2
3.4
8.5
7.6
14.5
6.5
9.7
47
West Virginia
59.2
21.5
4.4
11.6
9.9
4.4
4.6
15.1
48
North Dakota
58.8
25.1
9.3
9.1
8.7
4.3
2.5
13.8
49
Wyoming
55.1
18.5
6
6.9
10.2
6.9
4.3
14.7
50
Vermont
54.2
23.6
2.7
8.3
6.6
7.2
2.9
10.9
51
South Dakota
46.5
18.2
4.1
9.4
6
4.2
2.5
9.3

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.

RankMetropolitan areaReports per 100,000 residentsNumber 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
RankMetropolitan areaReports per 100,000 residentsNumber 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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Editor

Kelly Larson is a Senior Editor at MarketWatch and formerly an editor at Finder who’s written dozens and edited hundreds of articles that help Americans make better financial decisions on everything from credit cards to mortgages to savings accounts. He’s well-versed in fact-checking content for accuracy, editing copy to remove biases and ensuring our content remains independent from affiliates, advertisers and partners. Prior to his role at Finder, Kelly led editorial newsrooms in the creation of award-winning content as a managing editor in the digital space. He holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Kansas. See full bio

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