In brief: Everyone is potentially at risk of becoming a victim of cybercrime, but it appears you're more likely to be scammed if you live in Alaska.
CenturyLinkQuote examined the FBI's annual report based on the Internet Crime Complaint Center to discover the number of victims in each US State and how much money was lost in 2018. For the second year in a row, Alaska had the most victims per 10,000 residents---21.67---yet the state lost the least amount of money per person: $2,256.30 on average.
Also for the second year in a row, South Dakota had the fewest number of victims per capita, with 5.3 per 10,000, or just 465 in total.
It was South Carolina residents who lost the most money, a massive $18,241.52 per person on average, amounting to a total of $137 million for the entire state.
While South Carolina's total losses are high, they pale in comparison to California, which lost $450 million to internet scammers last year, or $9,178.70 per victim. New York came in second with $207 million, or $11,426.29 per victim.
When it comes to how people were scammed, utilizing social media was a popular method, accounting for 41,000 victims and $101 million. Virtual currency scams, meanwhile, snared 36,000 people and $182 million.
Unsurprisingly, those over 60 are the most targeted age group for scammers. They lost almost $650 million to schemes including confidence/relationship fraud in 2018.
As for the top three biggest-earning scams, Business Email Compromise (BEC) and Email Account Compromise (EAC) schemes accounted for over $1 billion in losses. This was followed by confidence relationship fraud accounts ($360 million) and investment scams ($252 million).
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