The 10 Worst States for Identity Theft

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently released a report showing the worst states for identity theft in the past year.

States were ranked by complaints per 100,000 population. For the third year in a row, Florida topped the list; the more heavily populated states generally appeared to experience higher rates of identity theft.

States with smaller populations like the Dakotas and Hawaii comprised the states least affected by identity theft, perhaps signaling that ID thieves don't find it worthwhile to target individuals outside major markets.

Here are the 10 states with the highest rates of identity theft:

1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. California
4. Michigan
5. New York
6. Nevada
7. Texas
8. Arizona
9. Arizona
10. Alabama

Other Findings

Besides telling you where identity theft happened, the FTC report is also interesting as it shows identity theft is most prevalent among younger adults between the ages of 20 and 29. This may be contrary to popular opinion that less tech-savvy elderly adults are particularly susceptible to ID theft. However, this number may be explained by riskier online behavior (and simply more time spent online) by younger adults.

Perhaps also surprising is that the most common type of identity fraud appears to be wage or tax fraud, which comprised almost half of all identity theft complaints in 2012. Credit card fraud was a distant second, comprising only 13.4% of the reported fraud.

Besides identity theft, the report also examines other types of reported fraud. Florida and Georgia are No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on that list as well.

In fact, Florida has topped the FTC's list since 2010, The Huffington Post reports.

Related Resources:

• Identity Theft (FindLaw)
• Sheriff Joe Arpaio Falls Victim to Identity Theft (FindLaw's Injured)
• 3 Tricks Identity Thieves Use During Tax Season (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
• The FindLaw Guide to Online Fraud and Identity Theft (FindLaw - Free Download)