USA Cyber Crime Hotspots

USA Cyber Crime Hotspots

Everyone knows the importance of staying safe online. Amongst all the great things that the internet has brought us, it has also presented opportunities for hackers and scammers to make an illegitimate living. 

There are many things you can do to stay safe online, such as using a residential proxy and installing anti-virus software. Despite these techniques, in the United States alone, there was a total loss of $18.7 billion, which shows just how dangerous the online world can be. 

That’s why we wanted to find out the states and countries that are most at risk from cybercrime, as well as the states which have lost the most money to cybercrime. We also wanted to find out which types of cybercrime were the most common. 

States Most at Risk of Cyber Crimes

We’ve calculated the number of victims per 100,000 people to find out the U.S. states that are most at risk of cybercrime.

1. Nevada—556 victims of cybercrime per 100,000

In first place, with twice as many victims as any other state, is Nevada with 556 victims per 100,000 of the population. Nevada had a total of 17,706 victims of cybercrime during the 2021 year, which was the sixth highest out of all the U.S. states.

2. Iowa—275 victims of cybercrime per 100,00

In second place is Iowa, with 275 victims of cybercrime per 100,000 people in the state. The population in Iowa is actually marginally higher than in Nevada, however, Iowa’s total of 8,853 victims is less than half of that in Nevada.

3. Alaska—242 victims of cybercrime per 100,000

Completing our top three, with 242 victims of cybercrime per 100,000, is Alaska. There were a total of 1,787 cases of cybercrime in Alaska, which was almost 10 times smaller than Nevada in first place. However, Alaska has one of the smallest populations in the U.S. which explains its high ranking. 

Most Common Types of Cyber Crime in the US

Cybercrime comes in all different forms. That’s why we wanted to find out the types of cybercrime that are most prevalent in the U.S.

1. Phishing/Vishing/Smishing/Pharming - 323,972 victims
Four different types of cybercrime take first place here, however, all four types of cybercrime have the same objective. Phishing is a form of cybercrime that encourages you to reveal personal and sensitive information, through a fraudulent message. Vishing is the same but through phone calls, smishing is through social media, and pharming is directing you to a fake website that will install a virus onto your device. There were 323,972 victims of these cyber attacks, who lost a combined total of $44 million. 

2. Non-Payment/Non-Delivery - 82,478 victims 

In second place, with 82,478 victims, is non-payment/non-delivery scams. This is where you either buy a product from a fraudulent seller, for the product not to be delivered, or you sell and deliver a product, only to not receive payment. Despite fewer victims, $337m was lost through these scams. 

3. Personal Data Breach—51,829 victims

Personal data breaches complete our top three, with almost 52,000 victims during 2021. Personal data breaches include someone going into a device, such as a phone or a computer, and accessing sensitive information without your permission. Out of our top three, personal data breaches were the most costly, with a combined loss of $517m.

States That Have Lost the Most Money to Cyber Crime

Cybercrime can often cost you a lot of money. That’s why we’ve looked at the combined amount lost from each state as a result of cybercrime.

1. California—$1.23 billion lost from cybercrime

California takes the top spot, with twice as much lost from cybercrime than any other state. More than $1.2 billion was lost due to cybercrime, in the state of California, where there were 67,000 victims. This equates to an average loss per victim of just over $18,000.

2. Texas—$606.2 million lost from cybercrime

In second place is Texas, with over $606 million lost from cybercrime in 2021. There were a total of 41,148 victims of cybercrime in Texas in 2021, which was the third highest on our list. This averages to $14,000 lost per victim in Texas.

3. New York—$560 million lost from cybercrime

New York completes our top three with a combined loss of just under $560 million. New York had a total of 29,065 victims in 2021. This averages to $19,000 lost per victim of cybercrime. 

States That Have Lost the Most per Victim

We’ve looked at the amount lost and the number of victims in each state to find out which states are losing the most money on average. 

1. North Dakota—$31,642 lost per victim

North Dakota takes first place by some distance. On average, North Dakota lost over $30,000 per victim, $12,000 more than any other state. North Dakota had just 670 victims in 2021, but $21.2 million was lost. 

2. New York—$19,267 lost per victim

New York takes second place, losing $19,267 per victim of cybercrime. New York lost the third-highest amount out of all states in the U.S. losing a total of $560 million. New York also had the fourth-highest number of victims. 

3. South Dakota—$19,032 lost per victim 

In third place, losing just over $19,000 per victim of cybercrime, is South Dakota. South Dakota just beats California, the state with the highest total loss and number of victims, to fourth place. South Dakota had a total of $18 million lost, which was shared between 951 people. 

Countries Most at Risk of Cyber Crime

Cybercrime happens all over the world. That’s why we wanted to find out the prevalence of cybercrime across the world. We’ve calculated the rate per 100,000 in each country to find out where cybercrime is happening the most. 

1. United Kingdom—450 victims of cybercrime per 100,000

The country most at risk of cybercrime is the United Kingdom, with 450 victims of cybercrime per 100,000 people. The UK had the second-highest number of victims out of all the countries on our list and more than three times as many victims per 100,000 people than any other country. 

2. United States—138 victims of cybercrime per 100,000 

The US takes second place with 138 victims of cybercrime per 100,000 people. The US had the highest number of victims on our list at 466,501, and the third-highest population. Despite being far off the UK’s number, the US is comfortably in third, with more than nine times as many as third place.

3. Canada—15 victims of cybercrime per 100,000

Completing our top three is Canada, with a total of 15 victims of cybercrime per 100,000 people. Canada had the third-highest number of victims on our list, with 5,788, which is far from the figures for the UK and the US. 

Methodology

All data was sourced from IC3 which displays data during 2021.

To calculate the loss per victim, we simply divided the amount lost by the number of victims.

To calculate the number of victims per 100,000 people, we divided the population by the number of victims and multiplied that figure by 100,000.