Friday, March 29, 2024
HomenewsWhere New Jersey Fits in When It Comes to Fraud and Identity...

Where New Jersey Fits in When It Comes to Fraud and Identity Theft!

You hear about it on the radio and TV, but you don’t think it could ever happen to you. Then, it happens. Identity theft is becoming more of a problem all over the country, in part because of big data breaches that put a lot of our personal information at risk. WalletHub put up a list of the “2022 States Most Vulnerable to Identity Theft and Tax Fraud.”

So far this year, the average data breach in the U.S. cost $9.44 million and took 277 days to find and stop. Several big companies and organizations, like Microsoft, Cash App, and the Red Cross, were affected.

Scammers can get your identity in a number of ways. Be careful about the “12 scams of Christmas” this holiday season. “New Jersey ranks high in online shopping scams,” says Big Joe Henry.

Dentity Theft and Fraud

But where do we fit in with identity theft in the whole country? WalletHub says 22nd, which is right in the middle. WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia on three important factors to find out where theft and fraud are most likely to happen to American consumers: Identity theft, fraud, and policy are the first three.

WalletHub looked at these dimensions using 14 key metrics. The metrics and their weights are listed below. Each metric was given a score from 0 to 100, with 100 being the most vulnerable.

1. Identity-Theft Complaints per Capita

2. Change in Identity-Theft Complaints per Capita (2020 vs. 2021)

3. Average Loss Amount Due to Online Identity Theft

4. Fraud & Other Complaints per Capita


5. Change in Fraud & Other Complaints per Capita


6. Median Loss Amount Due to Fraud


7. Persons Arrested for Fraud per Capita

8. E-Commerce Attack Rates

9. Availability of Security-Freeze Law for Minors’ Credit Reports


10. Availability of Identity-Theft Passport Program


11. Data Disposal Laws by State


12. Presence of State Laws Addressing “Phishing”


13. Presence of State Spyware Laws


14. Presence of Statewide Cybersecurity Task Forces

Then, we took the weighted average of each state’s and the District’s scores on all metrics to get an overall score, and we used that score to rank-order our sample. With a total score of 49.66, New Jersey came in 22nd. We came in 20th for identity theft and the 27th for fraud, and we got a 3 for the policy as a whole.

Read More: New Jersey Has Appointed the Nation’s First Openly Transgender Cabinet Member.

As for our neighbors, Pennsylvania came in sixth with a total score of 59.68 and New York came in 10th with a total score of 56.07. Only New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise’s thoughts are shown in the above post. @realstevetrev is his Twitter handle.

Now you can hear Steve Trevelise — On Demand! Find out more about the people of New Jersey and what makes it so interesting. You can get the Steve Trevelise show anywhere podcasts are available, on our free app, or right now.

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