Fraud, like other crimes, is ubiquitous in the United States, and is an ongoing concern for law enforcement agencies in every state. As a recent analysis by WalletHub show, though, some states are certainly more vulnerable to fraud than others, and Florida is among the worst in this area.
The analysis looked at a number of factors in gauging the risk of theft and fraud, including: the rate of complaints for identity theft, government-documents and benefits fraud, credit card fraud, phone and utilities fraud, and employment fraud; financial losses due to cybercrime per capita; credit card fraud rate change; and the rate of data breaches. All of these factors were given equal weight and combined into an overall score.
At the bottom of the list, representing the states which were least vulnerable, were South Dakota, Hawaii, Maine, West Virginia Kentucky, Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho and Minnesota. On the other end of the scale was the District of Columbia, followed by the states of Florida, Nevada, California, Arizona, Georgia, Washington, Delaware, Texas, Illinois Oregon and Connecticut.
The fact that Florida comes in at the top of the list in terms of fraud risk is not surprising as previous studies have shown similar results. For Floridians, remaining alert to the risk of fraud is obviously important. Also important, however, is for those who have been accused of fraud crimes to understand their legal rights, hold prosecutors to their full burden of proof, and to work with an experienced attorney who can advocate for them to ensure they build the strongest possible defense case.
