Community Corner

Identity Theft In Nevada Among Highest In America: Report

If you wait until the last minute to file your taxes, you might want to read this.

NEVADA - Residents in Nevada fall victim to identity theft more often than most of the country, and habitual procrastinators who wait to file their taxes are particularly at risk, according to a new report. There were 371,061 reported cases of identity theft last year, including 3,828 in Nevada, the online financial news site 24/7 Wall St. reported on Friday.

Overall, identity theft seems to be falling in the country. There were nearly 400,000 cases in 2016 and more than 490,000 known incidents in 2015, the report said.

What's particularly troubling is that the likelihood of becoming a victim of identity theft seems to depend heavily where you live, the site said. South Dakota had the lowest rate of identity theft with just 46 reported cases for every 100,000 residents. But other states, such as Michigan and Florida, saw identity theft rates that were more than three times as high.

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In Nevada, the rate of identity theft complaints was 128 per 100,000 people. That's the fifth highest rate in the entire country. In Nevada:

  • Identity theft complaints: 128 per 100,000 (total: 3,828)
  • Median loss for all types of fraud: $500 (2nd highest)
  • Most common form of ID theft: Credit card fraud (39 percent of total)
  • Second most common form of ID theft: Employment or tax-related fraud (32 percent of total)

After Nevada, Maryland had the fourth highest rate of identity theft, followed by California, Florida, and Michigan, which had the highest rate at 151 complaints per 100,000 residents.

Find out what's happening in Las Vegaswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Identity theft typically means a third party used someone's personal identifying information β€” such as social security number or credit card number β€” to commit fraud or theft.

Credit card fraud was far and away the most common form of identity theft. This means an individual's credit card was either used to buy stuff without the victim's permission or to open new cards in the victim's name.

Click here to read the full report and here to read the methodology.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton wrote this report. Image via Shutterstock.


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