This Is How Common Identity Theft Is in Georgia

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, Georgia residents reported 69,487 different incidents of identity theft, or 654 incidents for every 100,000 residents — the seventh highest rate of identity theft among states.

Credit card fraud ranked as the most commonly reported type of identity theft in Georgia, accounting for 42% of all identity theft reports. The second most commonly reported form of identity theft was the category of other identity theft, which can include theft of online shopping accounts, email and social media accounts, and more. That type was cited in 41% 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.

RankStateID theft reports per 100KTotal ID theft reportsMost common theft type
50South Dakota72637Credit Card Fraud
49Iowa963,022Credit Card Fraud
48Nebraska1132,182Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
47Alaska127926Credit Card Fraud
46Kentucky1275,693Other Identity Theft
45Vermont130810Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
44Idaho1322,353Credit Card Fraud
43Minnesota1468,246Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
42West Virginia1482,646Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
41Wyoming151875Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
40Wisconsin1548,986Credit Card Fraud
39New Mexico1653,454Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
38North Dakota1661,266Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
37New Hampshire1692,301Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
36Oregon1767,432Credit Card Fraud
35Virginia18315,632Credit Card Fraud
34Connecticut1916,821Credit Card Fraud
33Ohio22225,893Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
32Missouri22213,653Other Identity Theft
31Montana2282,439Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
30Michigan24424,370Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
29Indiana25717,306Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
28Pennsylvania26533,886Credit Card Fraud
27Hawaii2713,835Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
26Tennessee28119,182Other Identity Theft
25North Carolina28830,176Other Identity Theft
24Utah2929,366Other Identity Theft
23Maryland34320,718Credit Card Fraud
22New York34567,202Credit Card Fraud
21Oklahoma34913,797Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
20Alabama35417,376Credit Card Fraud
19Colorado36120,762Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
18New Jersey36232,125Credit Card Fraud
17Mississippi37111,048Other Identity Theft
16South Carolina37319,193Other Identity Theft
15California373147,382Credit Card Fraud
14Arizona38027,661Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
13Delaware4494,374Credit Card Fraud
12Texas465134,788Other Identity Theft
11Florida472101,367Credit Card Fraud
10Louisiana47321,976Loan or Lease Fraud
9Maine5347,183Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
8Arkansas57917,470Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
7Georgia65469,487Credit Card Fraud
6Massachusetts66145,575Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
5Washington71254,247Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
4Nevada74022,801Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
3Illinois1,066135,038Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
2Rhode Island1,19112,621Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
1Kansas1,48343,211Government Documents or Benefits Fraud

by: Grant Suneson, 24/7 Wall St. via The Center Square

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