New Research Reveals These States at Most at Risk from Business Fraud
Monday, January 10th, 2022
The research, undertaken by anti-fraud experts SEON, has revealed the states with the highest rates of business fraud per 100,000 people.
The research used data from the Federal Trade Commission and recorded both the total number of fraud reports in each state as well as the total number of business or corporate fraud cases. It then compared this to population data, giving relative rates of fraud and business fraud in each geographical area, allowing comparisons to be made.
For all the information, please visit: https://seon.io/resources/
The USA’s Business Fraud Hotspots:
|
Rank |
State |
Population |
Business and Job Opportunities Fraud Reports |
Business and Job Opportunities Fraud Reports per 100,000 People |
|
1 |
Nevada |
3,104,614 |
588 |
18.94 |
|
2 |
Maryland |
6,177,224 |
1,114 |
18.03 |
|
3 |
Arkansas |
3,011,524 |
516 |
17.13 |
|
4 |
Colorado |
5,773,714 |
927 |
16.06 |
|
5 |
Texas |
29,145,505 |
4,394 |
15.08 |
|
6 |
Rhode Island |
1,097,379 |
165 |
15.04 |
|
7 |
Florida |
21,538,187 |
3,200 |
14.86 |
|
8 |
Georgia |
10,711,908 |
1,572 |
14.68 |
|
9 |
Illinois |
12,812,508 |
1,807 |
14.10 |
|
10 |
Utah |
3,271,616 |
460 |
14.06 |
Nevada is the USA’s biggest business fraud hotspot, with 18.94 reports of business fraud per 100,000 people. This is more than 2.5 times the rate in the country’s best-performing state, Nebraska, where there were only 7.24 reports per 100,000 people. That’s a colossal difference!
Not far behind Nevada is our second place hotspot, Maryland. Despite having almost double the number of business fraud incidents than Nevada, Maryland’s large population puts it in second place overall.
In third place is Arkansas. Despite the low total number of business fraud reports, this southern state has a much higher than average rate of business fraud when looked at on a “per head” basis.
The research also looked at the states are the worst places to be hit by fraud in the USA as they have the highest average loss per reported fraud case.
The States With The Most Overall Fraud Per Head:
|
Rank |
State |
Total Fraud Reports |
Total Loss |
Median Loss |
Average Loss per Report |
|
1 |
California |
126,077 |
$318.3m |
540 |
$2,525 |
|
2 |
Wyoming |
1,693 |
$3.8m |
500 |
$2,245 |
|
3 |
North Dakota |
1,902 |
$3.9m |
392 |
$2,050 |
|
4 |
Nevada |
14,033 |
$27.4m |
544 |
$1,953 |
|
5 |
South Dakota |
2,082 |
$3.8m |
400 |
$1,825 |
|
6 |
New Jersey |
30,655 |
$52.9m |
500 |
$1,726 |
|
7 |
Utah |
10,414 |
$17.9m |
500 |
$1,719 |
|
8 |
Florida |
83,374 |
$142.8m |
500 |
$1,713 |
|
9 |
Washington |
30,991 |
$52.4m |
490 |
$1,691 |
|
10 |
Arizona |
28,010 |
$46.2m |
500 |
$1,649 |
California is the state with the highest average loss per fraud report at $2,525. As one of the planet’s biggest economies and home to the tech giants that have dominated the business world, California has become a prime target for fraudsters looking for high-value scores.
In contrast to California, Wyoming has one of the smaller total numbers of fraud reports. However, the average cost of these fraud incidents is as much as $2,245, the second-highest in the country.
North Dakota claims third place with average losses per reported case of fraud standing at $2,050. However, the median losses in North Dakota are significantly lower than those in other states this high up the table, suggesting that the data may be skewed by a few particularly costly incidents of fraud.
Further findings:
-
Rhode Island has the highest number of fraud reports per 100,000 in the country at 1,017.
-
With almost 30,000 reported cases of fraud, and a population of around 5.8 million, the state with the third-highest rate of fraud reports is Colorado.
