From credit card fraud to identity theft and other forms of personal breach, it’s easy for someone to obtain your information and use it maliciously. Many times, you don’t even know when someone has your information until they purchase something, apply for credit, or open an account in your name. Instances like this, unless caught early, can open the door to much larger problems as well, such as ruining your credit score or racking up large amounts of debt. These issues, while solvable, can still take a lot of time and effort to correct on top of the stress of knowing that someone is using your identity.
Some states seem to have worse personal breach problems than others. Workwise recently took government data from 2018 to see which states are affected the most by different types of scams. According to the data, the states have the worst personal breach problems by number of victims are:
- California (12,135 victims)
- Florida (7,208 victims)
- Texas (5,168 victims)
- New York (4,577 victims)
- Georgia (2,909 victims)
The states that lose the most money due to personal breaches are:
- California ($69,406,374 in losses)
- Florida ($35,224,187 in losses)
- Texas ($20,860,263 in losses)
- New York ($20,786,554 in losses)
- Minnesota ($17,557,090 in losses)
Don’t let these numbers spook you, however. There are plenty of ways to protect yourself from becoming the victim of a personal breach scam. Some ways you can protect yourself are:
- Use a different password for every website, and make them complex
- Use two-factor authentication
- Keep track of your purchases and watch your statements for unusual activity
If you do find yourself to be the victim of a breach, make sure to set up alerts on your account and take the steps needed to resolve the issue immediately, because the longer you wait, the worst the problem gets.
To see the full report of the states with the worst ransomware and breach problems, click here.