This Is the State With the Most Identity Theft

One of the most troubling financial problems Americans face is the widespread and frequent levels of identity theft. According to Javelin Strategy, the number of incidents rose 45% in 2020 and continued a sharp rise last year. The total cost to Americans reached $86 billion in 2021.

The primary types of identity theft fall into a few categories. Data breaches at large companies can affect millions of people at the same time. Identity fraud and stolen credit cards are among other major causes. People also have to be concerned about stolen social security numbers and email addresses.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book to identify the state with the most identity theft.

In 2020 (the most recent year for which details are available), by far the most common type of identity theft involved people fraudulently applying for government benefits. As the federal government offered loans to businesses and additional unemployment benefits because of the pandemic, there were nearly 400,000 reports of people fraudulently applying for or receiving benefits — a nearly 3,000% increase from the previous year.

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In most cases, the person reporting fraud did not lose any money. Still, nearly three-quarters of a million Americans, just over a third of cases, were defrauded out of some money. The median loss in these cases was $311, yet nearly 40,000 Americans reported losing over $10,000 in some kind of criminal scam.

There does not appear to be any common through-line among the states with the most identity theft per capita.

The state with the most identify theft was Kansas. Here are the details:

> Identity theft complaints: 1,483 per 100,000 (total: 43,211)
> Median loss for all types of fraud: $250 (13th lowest – tied)
> Most common form of ID theft: Government documents or benefits fraud (88% of total)
> Second most common form of ID theft: Other identity theft (5% of total)

Click here to see all the states with the most identify theft.
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