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More than 70 percent of Americans have reported they’ve experienced an increase in scam attempts this year, with states such as Pennsylvania experiencing the “most online scams” in the country.
2024 seems to be just as rife with scams for the Keystone State, as a separate report has deemed it amongst the “most vulnerable” to identity theft and fraud.
WalletHub — a personal finance company that provides “a number of services and tools” to help “consumers to lead financially healthy lives” — conducted and published said report, which graded all 50 states plus Washington D.C. across three main categories: “Identity Theft,” “Fraud,” and “Policy.”
The sources that were used included the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI, and final rankings were determined after metrics such as “Identity-Theft Complaints” and “Data Disposal Laws by State” were factored in.
Pennsylvania ranked 14th overall. It was also third when it came to just the “Policy” category.
Topping the list was our nation’s capital — Washington D.C. — followed by Delaware in second and Florida in third.
“In recent years, significant data breaches have compromised many Americans’ personal information,” reads the study. “U.S. consumers reported losing 30% more money due to fraud last year compared to the previous year, totaling nearly $8.8 million in losses nationwide.
“This year, the data breach of the MOVEit file transfer platform has already impacted over 2,600 organizations and upwards of 83 million individuals worldwide, and the list continues to grow. Several big companies and organizations were victims of this attack, from finance companies to professional services and education providers.”
The state found to be the least vulnerable to identity theft and fraud was Kansas.
©2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit pennlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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