Map Shows States Most Vulnerable to Identity Theft and Fraud In 2025
17 hours ago
4,525
Newsweek has mapped the states most vulnerable to identity theft and fraud in 2025, according to a December report from WalletHub.
Why It Matters
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), said it received 2.6 million reports of fraud last year, and that nationwide fraud losses topped $10 billion in 2023.
What To Know
To determine which parts of the U.S. were most at risk, the study examined identity theft and fraud complaints per capita, change in complaint per capita as well as state policies that can mitigate the damage posed by such crimes.
The 10 most vulnerable states (including District of Columbia) were as follows:
District of Columbia
Delaware
California
South Dakota
Florida
Nevada
Connecticut
Arizona
Texas
Iowa
Newsweek has reached out to lawmakers in each of the top 10 plus WalletHub for comment.
The report found that the region of the U.S. most vulnerable to identity theft and fraud was the District of Columbia.
WalletHub said a significant reason for this issue was the absence of adequate laws to protect against such crimes. For instance, Washington, D.C. does not permit parents or guardians to place security freezes on minors’ credit reports. Additionally, it lacks an identity theft passport program, which helps individuals prove their identity if it is stolen, said the report.
It also said the District also does not have a cybersecurity task force or legislation targeting spyware on computers.
Last year, D.C. reported 1,885 fraud complaints and 478 identity theft complaints per 100,000 residents, the highest rates in the nation, the report said.
It was also found to have the third highest average identity theft loss, exceeding $20,000.
Coming in second was Delaware. The report said its position in the rankings was in part due to having the highest number of people arrested for fraud per capita.
“It also has the highest rate of fraud for e-commerce, based on both shipping addresses and billing addresses located in the state,” read the study.
Delaware’s laws are lacking in certain areas related to identity theft and fraud, according to the report. For instance, it said the state does not have any specific laws addressing phishing or spyware, leaving residents more exposed to online scams and cyberattacks.
WalletHub also found that Delaware had the fifth and sixth most fraud and identity theft complaints respectively.
The third most vulnerable place was California—in large part due to the state having the sixth highest average loss due to identity theft, at over $11,000.
It was also found to have a high number of both identity theft complaints and fraud complaints.
The report noted that the while the state does have most of the key laws necessary for addressing identity theft and fraud, there was “still room for improvement” and that it lacked an identity theft passport program to help victims prove their identity should an incident occur.
What People Are Saying
Shambhu Upadhyaya, director, SEAS/SOM Cybersecurity MS Program, said in the report: “If anyone asks for social security number for verification purposes, make sure the request comes from genuine sources. Be wary of providing social security numbers to anyone who initiates the communication leading up to this request.
“Do not provide social security numbers to anyone through email. When suspicious of identity theft, one should check the credit report and make sure that no new accounts were opened in your name.”
WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo wrote in the report: “In an age where we have sensitive data online in a multitude of places, we risk falling victim to identity theft and fraud whenever there’s a data breach.
“Living in a state with robust legal protections against identity theft and fraud, such as identity theft passports and cybersecurity task forces, can decrease your risk of falling victim to these crimes, though staying vigilant and protecting yourself online is still the most important.”
What Happens Next
To help avoid falling victim to identity theft or fraud, the report recommended the following:
Emphasize email security, such as strong passwords and two-step verification.
Sign up for credit monitoring, which WalletHub said can alert you to potential signs of identity theft.
Keep contact information up to date.
Avoid opening emails from senders you don’t recognize, and don’t download files from untrustworthy sites.
Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com
Um die besten Erfahrungen zu bieten, verwenden wir Technologien wie Cookies, um Geräteinformationen zu speichern und/oder darauf zuzugreifen. Wenn Sie diesen Technologien zustimmen, können wir Daten wie das Surfverhalten oder eindeutige IDs auf dieser Website verarbeiten. Die Nichteinwilligung oder der Widerruf der Einwilligung kann bestimmte Merkmale und Funktionen beeinträchtigen.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
