There’s no foolproof way to judge if someday you will fall prey to credit card theft, but the state where you live, work or visit may provide some clues.
Analysts at RewardExpert scrutinized an array of data including from three federal agencies — the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, The Consumer Sentinel Network of the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center — along with income information and other data to see where the hazards are greatest.
How at risk are you to become one of the more than 2 million U.S. residents victimized by credit card thieves? Starting with the state where people are least at risk, here are the rankings from RewardExpert:
50. Iowa
Iowa has the lowest rate of credit card fraud in the nation. But don’t let your guard down too much. There are pockets of fraud such as one in Polk County (home to the capital, Des Moines) where 16 cases were reported over three days in 2016. Still, the 342.5 incidents per 100,000 residents in 2016 marked a decline of 1.92 percent from the previous year.
49. South Dakota
South Dakota is one of the least likely states for credit card fraud, despite some troubling outbreaks. One that occurred last year involved two men found with 1,000 blank credit cards on which they were falsifying information to use in stores. The latest credit card fraud figures for the state from RewardExpert show 320.6 incidents per 100,000 residents in 2016. That was down 9.94 percent from the previous year.
48. Wyoming
Wyoming, like South Dakota and Iowa, has little credit card fraud when compared with other states. The 2016 figures there showed 416.2 incidents per 100,000 residents, which was almost unchanged from 2015. The increase was 0.18 percent.
47. North Dakota
There’s no guarantee about the weather in this Northern state, but it is another place that is fairly safe for credit card users despite a 2.13 percent increase in fraud between 2015 and 2016. In 2016, the state had 284.7 incidents per 100,000 residents.
46. Maine
There’s plenty of shopping and tourism in Maine, however the state saw a drop of 5.23 percent in credit card fraud between 2015 and 2016. In the most recent year, there were 423.7 incidents per 100,000 residents.
45. Arkansas
Arkansas saw an 8.48 percent increase in credit card fraud between 2015 and 2016. Still, the rate is low at only 519 incidents per 100,000 residents.
44. Nebraska
Nebraska also saw an increase in credit card fraud. The 411.9 incidents per 100,000 residents in 2016 was 2.12 percent more than the previous year.
43. Wisconsin
In 2016, there were 465.9 incidents of credit card fraud in Wisconsin. That was 5.26 percent more than occurred during the previous year.
42. Louisiana
Louisiana had 701.9 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016. That was 5.76 percent more than the previous year.
41. Hawaii
The Aloha State had 403.8 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016. That was 8.76 percent more than in 2015.
40. Oklahoma
The rate of credit card fraud in Oklahoma increased 5.08 percent from 2015 to 2016, when the state reported 518.7 incidents per 100,000 residents.
39. West Virginia
In 2016, West Virginia had 543.3 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents. That’s a whopping 21.59 percent increase over the previous year.
38. Montana
There was a rate of 441.2 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in Big Sky Country in 2016, a decrease of 0.32 percent from 2015.
37. Idaho
The 463.4 incidents of credit card fraud in the Gem State in 2016 reflected a 9.53 percent increase over 2015.
36. New Hampshire
Rates of credit card fraud in New Hampshire dropped 1.43 percent between 2015 and 2016. In 2016, the state had 563.8 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents.
35. Kansas
Kansas reported a rate of 503.4 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents during 2016, which 17.92 percent higher than the previous year.
34. Mississippi
Mississippi had 609.3 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016, a rate that was 18.01 percent higher than in 2015.
33. Utah
Utah had 417.9 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents, up 5.48 percent from the previous year.
32. Alaska
The rate of 358.9 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in Alaska during 2016 was a decrease of 9.15 percent from 2015.
31. Ohio
There were 664.8 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in Ohio during 2016. That rate was 9.56 percent higher than the previous year.
30. Rhode Island
Rhode Island had 682.1 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016, which was a 10.81 percent decrease from the rate in 2015.
29. Kentucky
The Bluegrass State had a rate of 539.7 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016. That was up 15.52 percent from 2015.
28. Indiana
In 2016, the Hoosier State had 562.8 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents. That rate was an increase of 10.11 percent over the previous year.
27. Minnesota
The state that’s home to the Mall of America reported 470.7 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016. That was an increase of 7.42 percent from the previous year’s rate.
26. Vermont
Vermont reported 405.4 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016. That was down 0.32 percent from the previous year.
25. New Jersey
New Jersey had 636.7 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016. That’s 1.63 percent higher than in 2015.
24. Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania reported 659.2 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016, a rate that was 5.26 percent higher than in 2015.
23. Connecticut
Connecticut had 590.4 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016. That’s up 6.55 percent from the previous year.
22. Missouri
Missouri reported a rate of 706.5 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016, a 15.95 percent increase over the previous year.
21. North Carolina
The rate of credit card fraud in North Carolina went up 16.52 percent from 2015 to 2016. In 2016, there were 641.2 incidents per 100,000 residents.
20. Oregon
Oregon had 546.8 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016. That rate was 8.06 percent higher than the previous year.
19. Massachusetts
Credit card fraud in Massachusetts dipped 1.86 percent between 2015 and 2016, when the state reported 547.2 incidents per 100,000 residents.
18. South Carolina
South Carolina had 700.8 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016. That rate was up 26.66 percent from 2015.
17. Alabama
Alabama reported 809 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016. That reflected a 9.6 percent increase over 2015.
16. Tennessee
Tennessee had 767.3 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016, up 14.47 percent from the previous year.
15. New York
New York state reported 567.3 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents up 8.07 percent from 2015.
14. Colorado
Colorado had 609.1 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016. That was up 2.79 percent from 2015.
13. Georgia
Georgia had 1,136.6 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents. While that may sound high, the rate was down 5.94 percent from the previous year.
12. Delaware
Delaware had 797.5 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016, down 1.27 percent from 2015.
11. Maryland
There were 807.7 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in Maryland during 2016. That was an increase of 7.84 percent over the previous year.
10. Washington
Washington reported that credit card fraud increased 9.68 percent in that state between 2015 and 2016, when there were 554.7 incidents per 100,000 residents.
9. Illinois
The rate of credit card fraud in Illinois was 576.7 incidents per 100,000 residents in 2016. That was up 11.51 percent from the previous year.
8. Arizona
There were 656.9 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in Arizona in 2016. That was up 5.35 percent from the previous year.
7. Virginia
Virginia had a rate of 701.3 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016, up 8.68 percent from the previous year.
6. Michigan
The rate of 1,083.3 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents reported in Michigan during 2016 was a decrease of 5.27 percent from the previous year.
5. Texas
Texas reported 952.3 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents during 2016. That rate was just 1.16 percent higher than in 2015.
4. Florida
Florida had 1,305 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016, a decline of 13.55 percent from the previous year.
3. New Mexico
New Mexico had 667.9 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents in 2016. That’s 12.43 percent higher than the previous year.
2. California
California’s rate of 713.1 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 residents during 2016 was a decrease of 4.94 percent from 2015.
1. Nevada
Las Vegas apparently isn’t the only place in Nevada where you take a gamble. The state leads the nation for credit card fraud and identity theft. And it’s not getting any better. There were 872 incidents of credit card fraud per 100,000 Nevada residents in 2016, up 4.19 percent from the previous year.
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