With businesses such as WhatsApp, Quest Diagnostics, Microsoft, ASUS and Capital One experiencing data breaches this year, the free credit-monitoring website WalletHub today released its report on 2019’s States Most Vulnerable to Identity Theft & Fraud.
To determine where Americans are most susceptible to such crimes, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 15 key metrics. The data set ranges from identity-theft complaints per capita to average loss amount due to fraud.
South Carolina came in as one of the most vulnerable states in America at #5 and North Carolina didn’t fair much better at #13;
States With the Most Identity Theft & Fraud
Overall Rank* | State | Total Score | ‘Identity Theft’ Rank | ‘Fraud’ Rank | ‘Policy’ Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | District of Columbia | 70.30 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
2 | California | 67.72 | 1 | 19 | 42 |
3 | Nevada | 65.41 | 13 | 2 | 22 |
4 | New Hampshire | 63.82 | 4 | 24 | 17 |
5 | South Carolina | 63.43 | 9 | 8 | 17 |
6 | Delaware | 63.26 | 24 | 1 | 33 |
7 | Louisiana | 62.45 | 2 | 38 | 42 |
8 | Texas | 62.43 | 3 | 28 | 42 |
9 | New York | 62.12 | 8 | 11 | 42 |
10 | Florida | 61.57 | 12 | 6 | 33 |
11 | Georgia | 61.05 | 5 | 27 | 42 |
12 | South Dakota | 60.66 | 14 | 10 | 5 |
13 | North Carolina | 60.12 | 15 | 9 | 15 |
14 | Tennessee | 58.71 | 27 | 4 | 22 |
15 | Montana | 58.28 | 10 | 20 | 42 |
16 | Minnesota | 57.13 | 17 | 13 | 17 |
17 | Oregon | 56.70 | 30 | 3 | 28 |
18 | Illinois | 55.87 | 7 | 42 | 49 |
19 | New Jersey | 55.73 | 19 | 21 | 1 |
20 | Connecticut | 53.40 | 11 | 45 | 33 |
21 | Alabama | 52.60 | 22 | 25 | 17 |
22 | Pennsylvania | 52.57 | 23 | 26 | 5 |
23 | Arizona | 52.56 | 26 | 12 | 49 |
24 | Colorado | 52.49 | 31 | 7 | 22 |
25 | Maryland | 52.45 | 16 | 29 | 38 |
26 | Rhode Island | 50.94 | 18 | 35 | 33 |
27 | Massachusetts | 50.13 | 20 | 44 | 5 |
28 | Mississippi | 49.96 | 28 | 31 | 5 |
29 | Idaho | 49.63 | 32 | 22 | 5 |
30 | Utah | 47.97 | 33 | 17 | 42 |
31 | Ohio | 47.89 | 25 | 47 | 17 |
32 | Indiana | 47.58 | 21 | 49 | 33 |
33 | Virginia | 46.70 | 34 | 18 | 51 |
34 | Michigan | 45.18 | 29 | 46 | 28 |
35 | Wisconsin | 43.87 | 36 | 41 | 15 |
36 | Alaska | 43.87 | 45 | 16 | 28 |
37 | Washington | 43.78 | 35 | 33 | 38 |
38 | New Mexico | 43.67 | 41 | 23 | 22 |
39 | Nebraska | 43.49 | 42 | 30 | 5 |
40 | Iowa | 43.39 | 44 | 15 | 38 |
41 | North Dakota | 42.97 | 48 | 14 | 5 |
42 | Missouri | 42.86 | 38 | 43 | 5 |
43 | Maine | 41.50 | 46 | 36 | 1 |
44 | Arkansas | 41.00 | 40 | 34 | 38 |
45 | Hawaii | 40.57 | 37 | 50 | 28 |
46 | Kansas | 40.33 | 43 | 37 | 28 |
47 | Oklahoma | 39.90 | 39 | 51 | 5 |
48 | West Virginia | 39.39 | 47 | 39 | 1 |
49 | Vermont | 37.45 | 49 | 32 | 22 |
50 | Wyoming | 34.80 | 50 | 40 | 5 |
51 | Kentucky | 31.86 | 51 | 48 | 22 |