Miami metro reports highest cases of identity theft in the nation

www.nbcmiami.com, August 25, 2024

South Florida has reported the highest cases of identity theft per capita in the United States in the first half of the year, according to a new analysis.

A report released in July by personal finance service The Motley Fool Ascent, indicated the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach metropolitan area reported 25,434 cases.

In Florida alone, there were a total of 54,313 identity theft reports – the third highest in the country just behind California and Texas.

Top metro areas for identity theft, 2024 Q1-Q2

a table showing the top ten metropolitan areas for identity theft.

Metropolitan Statistical Area

Reports per 100k residents

Total reports

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL

417

25,434

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA

327

19,706

Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV

284

6,332

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX

276

19,452

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

262

34,678

Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL

259

6,817

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

230

17,360

Baton Rouge, LA

227

1,976

Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL

224

1,601

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

221

13,709

Data source: FTC (2024).

 

Identity theft in the U.S.

Through the first half of the year, 552,000 cases of identity theft were reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) nationwide.

At that rate, cases for the full year will exceed the amount reported in 2023 – 1,037,000.

What's the most common form of identity theft?

Roughly 215,000 cases of credit card theft were reported to the FTC in the first half of 2024, up 6% from the previous six months.

There are two types of credit card fraud — new account, which is when thieves use your information to open a credit card account in your name, and existing account, which is when a thief uses a credit card that you opened.

Identity theft comes in many other forms – 96,608 cases of loan or lease fraud were reported in 2024, and 170,784 cases were categorized under other identity theft, which includes schemes involving email and social media, insurance, medical services, online shopping and more.

 

Type of Identity Fraud                           Reported cases in the first half of 2024

Credit Card Fraud                                                                                         214,607

Other Identity Theft                                                                                      170,784

Loan or Lease Fraud                                                                                    96,608

Bank Fraud                                                                                                   61,672

Phone or Utilities Fraud                                                                                46,318

Government Documents or Benefits Fraud                                                  41,190

Employment or Tax-Related Fraud                                                               31,582

Data source: FTC

News article: Miami metro reports highest cases of identity theft in the nation: Report – NBC 6 South Florida (nbcmiami.com)