Posted at 4:46 a.m., Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Hawaii ranks low on AARP's identity theft list
News Release
WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft was the leading fraud complaint in 2006 with over 245,000 grievances nationwide. With so many ways to steal someone's personal information from a stolen wallet or purse to mail theft to online transactions, identity fraud is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. Victims in the 50+ category are especially hit hard with 23% of all complaints in 2006 attributed to that demographic. As a supplement to the regular and always-popular AARP Bulletin "Scam Alert" feature, the October issue of AARP Bulletin reveals the rates of stolen identity in each state, and online resources for combating identity theft (page 37). Arizona, the District of Columbia, Nevada, California, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Georgia, New York, and Washington netted out as the top ten states with the most identity reports in 2006. The following is the complete list:
Identity theft complaints per 100,000 people in each state and District of Columbia filed in 2006, as follows:
Arizona - 148 Maryland - 83 Massachusetts - Idaho - 49
64
District of Columbia Illinois - 79 Oklahoma - 63 Hawaii - 48
- 132
Nevada - 120 Oregon - 76 Indiana - 62 New Hampshire
- 46
California - 114 New Jersey - 73 Utah - 62 Montana - 46
Texas - 111 Virginia - 67 Tennessee - 61 Wisconsin - 46
Florida - 98 Michigan - 67 Alabama - 60 Wyoming - 42
Colorado - 93 Delaware - 67 Ohio - 60 Kentucky - 42
Georgia - 86 Connecticut - 66 Kansas - 59 Maine - 40
New York - 85 Pennsylvania Rhode Island West Virginia - 39
- 65 - 58
Washington - 83 North Carolina Alaska - 57 Iowa - 35
- 65
New Mexico - 83 Missouri - 64 Nebraska - 49 South Dakota - 30
North Dakota - 30
Vermont - 29
*source: Federal Trade Commission
