Identity theft and credit card fraud take place every day in avariety of ways. However, residents in some states and largemetropolitan areas are more vulnerable to identity theft thanothers.
|In 2014, there were 332,646 identity theft complaints in theU.S., according to data from the Federal Trade Commission.
|Most homeowners and renters policies provide coverage for theftof money or credit cards, according to the Insurance InformationInstitute. However, the amount of coverage is limited (usually $200in cash and $50 on credit cards). Some companies now includecoverage for identity theft as part of their homeowners insurancepolicy. Others sell it as either a stand-alone policy or as anendorsement to a homeowners or renters insurance policy which canrun about $25-$50 annually.
|NerdWallet, a personalfinance website, reviewed federal data from the FTC that includescomplaints by consumers to the FTC, as well as reportsreceived by federal and state law enforcement agencies, nationalconsumer protection organizations and nongovernmentalorganizations, to rank ID theft rates by states and large metroareas from December 2011 to Sept. 14, 2015.
|The most common kind of identity theft is fraud involvinggovernment documents, such as Social Security cards, passports anddriver’s licenses, and government benefits fraud. Other kinds ofidentity theft are credit card fraud, phone or utilities fraud,bank fraud and employment-related fraud.
|Credit card fraud complaints comprised 17.4% of the 332,646total identity theft complaints in 2014. EMV technology, a wayto make credit card payments more secure by generating a uniquecode for each in-person credit card transaction, is being widelyadopted across the U.S. Merchants or vendors who don’t support EMVtechnology are now liable for fraudulent transactions that occur inperson.
|The lowest rate of identity theft complaints was in SouthDakota, Hawaii and North Dakota. Residents in North Dakota,South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming and Iowa file the fewest credit cardfraud complaints.
|Following are the 15 states and 15 largest metro areas in theU.S. with the highest rates of ID theft complaints per 100,00residents. You'll notice that credit card fraud was reported moreon the coasts.
|Top 15 states for ID theft in2014
|
15.Connecticut
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 85.4
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 37.2
|Credit card fraud: 16.1
|Phone or utilities fraud: 10.6
|Bank fraud: 6.5
|Employment fraud: 3.8
||
14. Colorado
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 85.5
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 30.9
|Credit card fraud: 12.6
|Phone or utilities fraud: 9.1
|Bank fraud: 8.7
|Employment fraud: 8.1
||
13.Illinois
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 96.6
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 35.3
|Credit card fraud: 14.9
|Phone or utilities fraud: 16.9
|Bank fraud: 6.9
|Employment fraud: 4.4
||
12.Texas
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 95.9
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 35.0
|Credit card fraud: 14.4
|Phone or utilities fraud: 11.0
|Bank fraud: 7.5
|Employment fraud: 7.7
||
11.Maryland
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 95.9
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 33.9
|Credit card fraud: 17.3
|Phone or utilities fraud: 13.4
|Bank fraud: 8.5
|Employment fraud: 3.4
||
10.Arizona
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 96.0
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 29.9
|Credit card fraud: 13.8
|Phone or utilities fraud: 10.1
|Bank fraud: 7.4
|Employment fraud: 12.7
||
9.Nevada
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 100.2
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 28.0
|Credit card fraud: 22.3
|Phone or utilities fraud: 10.8
|Bank fraud: 10.3
|Employment fraud: 6.0
||
8.California
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 100.5
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 24.8
|Credit card fraud: 24.7
|Phone or utilities fraud: 11.6
|Bank fraud: 10.4
|Employment fraud: 8.2
||
7.Michigan
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 104.3
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 44.0
|Credit card fraud: 14.3
|Phone or utilities fraud: 23.2
|Bank fraud: 5.9
|Employment fraud: 3.3
||
6.Georgia
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 112.7
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 45.9
|Credit card fraud: 17.1
|Phone or utilities fraud: 16.1
|Bank fraud: 9.1
|Employment fraud: 3.4
||
5.Missouri
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 118.7
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 73.6
|Credit card fraud: 12.2
|Phone or utilities fraud: 9.4
|Bank fraud: 5.9
|Employment fraud: 2.7
||
4.Oregon
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 124.6
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 76.6
|Credit card fraud: 13.0
|Phone or utilities fraud: 6.4
|Bank fraud: 6.6
|Employment fraud: 2.5
||
3. Washington,D.C.
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 142.8
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 47.5
|Credit card fraud: 25.0
|Phone or utilities fraud: 22.3
|Bank fraud: 12.0
|Employment fraud: 5.8
||
2. Washingtonstate
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 154.8
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 85.7
|Credit card fraud: 17.6
|Phone or utilities fraud: 9.4
|Bank fraud: 8.8
|Employment fraud: 4.8
||
1.Florida
Total ID theft (complaints per 100,00residents): 186.3
|Government documents or benefits fraud: 96.1
|Credit card fraud: 28.1
|Phone or utilities fraud: 15.0
|Bank fraud: 15.3
|Employment fraud: 5.1
|Next: Top 15 U.S. cities for identitytheft
||Top 15 U.S. metro areas
|
15.Beckley, W.Va.
Total identity theft complaints: 176
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 141.4
||14. Atlanta-SandySprings-Roswell, Ga.
Total identity theft complaints: 7,809
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 141.4
||
13. Lakeland-Winter Haven,Fla.
Total identity theft complaints: 908
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 145.7
||
12. Port St. Lucie,Fla.
Total identity theft complaints: 650
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 148.4
||
11. Cape Coral-Fort Myers,Fla.
Total identity theft complaints: 988
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 149.4
||
10. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn,Mich.
Total identity theft complaints: 6,522
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 151.9
||
9. Jacksonville,Fla.
Total identity theft complaints: 2,156
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 154.6
||8. Pueblo, Colo.
Total identity theft complaints: 252
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 156.1
||
7. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro,Oregon and Washington
Total identity theft complaints: 3,685
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 159.2
||
6. Olympia-Tumwater,Wash.
Total identity theft complaints: 418
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 159.3
||5. Naples-Immokalee-MarcoIsland, Fla.
Total identity theft complaints: 586
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 172.5
||
4. Tallahassee,Fla.
Total identity theft complaints: 706
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 189.1
||
3. St. Louis
Total identity theft complaints: 5,724
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 204.4
||2. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue,Wash.
Total identity theft complaints: 7,473
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 207
||
1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-WestPalm Beach, Fla.
Total identity theft complaints: 18,428
|ID theft complaints (per 100,000 residents): 316.2
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