Categories: NewsTexas

This is how common identity theft is in Texas

Throughout 2020, law enforcement reported 4.7 million cases of fraud, identity theft, and other scams. This shattered the previous record, from 2019, by nearly 1.5 million reports. In total, Americans lost $3.3 billion to fraud last year.

Though every state reported hundreds, if not thousands, of cases of fraud, the populations of some states were much more prone to identity theft than others. A few states reported less than 100 incidents per 100,000 residents, while three states reported over 1,000 incidents per 100,000.

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

By far the most common type of identity theft in 2020 involved people fraudulently applying for government benefits.

As the federal government offered loans to businesses and additional unemployment benefits to Americans 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.

In 2020, Texas residents reported 134,788 different incidents of identity theft, or 465 incidents for every 100,000 residents — the 12th highest rate of identity theft among states.

The category of other identity theft, which can include theft of online shopping accounts, email and social media accounts, and more ranked as the most commonly reported type of identity theft in Texas, accounting for 32% of all identity theft reports.

The second most commonly reported form of identity theft was loan or lease fraud. That type was cited in 29% of all reports.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book to identify the states with the most and least identity theft per capita. These are the states with the most identity theft.

Rank State ID theft reports per 100K Total ID theft reports Most common theft type
50 South Dakota 72 637 Credit Card Fraud
49 Iowa 96 3,022 Credit Card Fraud
48 Nebraska 113 2,182 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
47 Alaska 127 926 Credit Card Fraud
46 Kentucky 127 5,693 Other Identity Theft
45 Vermont 130 810 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
44 Idaho 132 2,353 Credit Card Fraud
43 Minnesota 146 8,246 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
42 West Virginia 148 2,646 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
41 Wyoming 151 875 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
40 Wisconsin 154 8,986 Credit Card Fraud
39 New Mexico 165 3,454 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
38 North Dakota 166 1,266 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
37 New Hampshire 169 2,301 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
36 Oregon 176 7,432 Credit Card Fraud
35 Virginia 183 15,632 Credit Card Fraud
34 Connecticut 191 6,821 Credit Card Fraud
33 Ohio 222 25,893 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
32 Missouri 222 13,653 Other Identity Theft
31 Montana 228 2,439 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
30 Michigan 244 24,370 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
29 Indiana 257 17,306 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
28 Pennsylvania 265 33,886 Credit Card Fraud
27 Hawaii 271 3,835 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
26 Tennessee 281 19,182 Other Identity Theft
25 North Carolina 288 30,176 Other Identity Theft
24 Utah 292 9,366 Other Identity Theft
23 Maryland 343 20,718 Credit Card Fraud
22 New York 345 67,202 Credit Card Fraud
21 Oklahoma 349 13,797 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
20 Alabama 354 17,376 Credit Card Fraud
19 Colorado 361 20,762 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
18 New Jersey 362 32,125 Credit Card Fraud
17 Mississippi 371 11,048 Other Identity Theft
16 South Carolina 373 19,193 Other Identity Theft
15 California 373 147,382 Credit Card Fraud
14 Arizona 380 27,661 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
13 Delaware 449 4,374 Credit Card Fraud
12 Texas 465 134,788 Other Identity Theft
11 Florida 472 101,367 Credit Card Fraud
10 Louisiana 473 21,976 Loan or Lease Fraud
9 Maine 534 7,183 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
8 Arkansas 579 17,470 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
7 Georgia 654 69,487 Credit Card Fraud
6 Massachusetts 661 45,575 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
5 Washington 712 54,247 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
4 Nevada 740 22,801 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
3 Illinois 1,066 135,038 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
2 Rhode Island 1,191 12,621 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
1 Kansas 1,483 43,211 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
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