Published: June 02, 2023 on our newsletter Security Fraud News & Alerts Newsletter.
First of all, no need to panic. No one expects you to pack your bags and move to a state with a lower cybercrime ranking. Every year, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) releases its national cybercrime rankings by state. The data comes from only those cybercrimes reported to the IC3. With their “2022 Internet Crime Report” release, buckle up, read on, and find out if (and where) your state rates.
2022 Top Ten States by Number of Victims
1. CA 80,766; 2. FL 42,792; 3. TX 38,661; 4. NY 25,112; 5. IL 14,786; 6. PA 14,714; 7. OH 13,659; 8. MI 13,566; 9. AZ 12,112; 10. VA 11,882.
In a contest no one wants to win, the clear leader is CA by overwhelming numbers, especially compared to FL in the #2 spot. While FL and TX and NY consistently show up in the top 4 spots, AZ has the lowest number of cybercrime victims in the U.S.
2022 Top Ten States by Victim Loss (in Millions)
1. CA $2,012; 2. FL $844; 3. NY $777; 4. TX $763; 5. GA $322; 6. NJ $284; 7. IL $266; 8. PA $250; 9. AL $247; 10. AZ $241
If you live in CA, hold on to your wallets! Once again, the state is the #1 front-runner with a huge lead over FL in the #2 spot. AZ again ranks #10, this time with the least amount of victim money lost to cybercrime.
2022 Crime Types (By Victim Count)
1. Phishing 300,497; 2. Personal Data Breach 58,859; 3. Non-Payment/Non-Delivery 51,679; 4. Extortion 39,416; 5. Tech Support 32,538; 6. Investment 30,529; 7. Identity Theft 27,922; 8. Credit Card/Check Fraud 22,985; 9. BEC (Business Email Compromise) 21,832; 10. Spoofing 20,649.
For the past five years, phishing takes the top ranking as the most prevalent type of cybercrime. Phishing consistently grabs the headlines day after day, year after year. Whether you log in at home, work, or both, always have your phishing (email, voice, and text) Spidey Sense set on high.
Phishing Phlags
While those phishermen are getting smarter with the lures, there are still the tried and true signs of phishing.
Notably, if you’re not expecting a link or attachment, don’t click on it.
When in doubt, verify. Send a separate email, a text, or make a phone call to confirm a link or attachment is legitimate before clicking.
If there are spelling errors, blurry graphics, grammatical boo-boos, or it just seems phishy, better off trashing the message altogether.
Rankings Conclusion
For better or worse, state rankings can change over time. And while some states always seem to fare better than others, there are also those states that, well…not so much. Remember, a “most hacked” state today could end up a shining example of cyber-hygiene in the next report.
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