South Florida has reported the highest cases of identity theft per capita in the United States in the first half of the year, according to a new analysis.
A report released in July by personal finance service The Motley Fool Ascent, indicated the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach metropolitan area reported 25,434 cases.
In Florida alone, there were a total of 54,313 identity theft reports – the third highest in the country just behind California and Texas.
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Identity theft in the U.S.
Through the first half of the year, 552,000 cases of identity theft were reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) nationwide.
At that rate, cases for the full year will exceed the amount reported in 2023 – 1,037,000.
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What's the most common form of identity theft?
Roughly 215,000 cases of credit card theft were reported to the FTC in the first half of 2024, up 6% from the previous six months.
There are two types of credit card fraud — new account, which is when thieves use your information to open a credit card account in your name, and existing account, which is when a thief uses a credit card that you opened.
Identity theft comes in many other forms – 96,608 cases of loan or lease fraud were reported in 2024, and 170,784 cases were categorized under other identity theft, which includes schemes involving email and social media, insurance, medical services, online shopping and more.
| Type of Identity Fraud | Reported cases in the first half of 2024 |
| Credit Card Fraud | 214,607 |
| Other Identity Theft | 170,784 |
| Loan or Lease Fraud | 96,608 |
| Bank Fraud | 61,672 |
| Phone or Utilities Fraud | 46,318 |
| Government Documents or Benefits Fraud | 41,190 |
| Employment or Tax-Related Fraud | 31,582 |
Read the full report here.
