3rd Worst State for Fraud
That would be Delaware, and the kind of fraud that is being compared here is consumer fraud: identity theft, mortgage fraud, debt collection fraud and other types of scams focused on consumers. Only Florida and Colorado are worse, according to this piece from 24/7 Wall Street. New Jersey is ranked 10th, with Washington, Georgia, Virginia, Arizona, and Maryland ranked 9th through 6th. The stats for Delaware:
3. Delaware
> Complaints per 100,000 population: 636
> Total complaints: 5,708
> Identity theft complaints per 100,000: 83.5 (10th most)
> Recession home value decline: 20.3% (16th largest)
> Homes late on payment or in foreclosure: 6.7% (16th most)Twenty-one percent of Delaware’s identity theft complaints involve phone or utilities fraud. This is a higher percentage than any other state on our list. Delaware also has, by a large margin, the greatest rate of debt collection complaints in the country, with 69.8 complaints per 100,000 residents. Nevada had the second-highest level of debt collection complaints at 57.8 complaints per 100,000 residents.
Their method:
In order to identify the 10 states with the highest incidence of fraud, 24/7 Wall st. reviewed data from the FTC’s Sentinel Network Data Book, which compiles the total number of complaints for each state. These complaints are divided between identity theft and a second category, which includes all other kinds of fraud. 24/7 Wall St. combined the total complaints of fraud per 100,000 people in each of these categories.
People cited in the 24/7 wall Street article speculate that the worst of the fraud happened in the states hardest hit by the recession, which makes us something of an outlier here, I think. Perhaps the high debt collection complaints makes Delaware one of the states with lots of household debt. The high amount of phone or utilities fraud might indicate that it is just too easy to open or change accounts for these firms. Wonder if there is a correlation between these rates of fraud and any state effort to deregulate some of its businesses?
“Hello, since you either work for a credit card company here in Delaware or know someone who does, you are certainly aware that we call up individuals out of the blue to check our data.. Could you tell me all your personal data again, just so check our files?”
Delawareans could be too trusting because of our familiarity with the internal workings of banks, and therefore be caught off guard when accepting such a call.
Florida, is full of old people… “Honey, what’s our credit card number again. This nice man says he needs to know right now…”
And Colorado.. Colorado… They believe everyone is a Christian, like their quarterback. If you get a call, it’s a Christian on the other end, so it has to be a legitimate request for information…
Virginia.. Now there is a dumb state.. Just look at Fairfax County. Enough said.
Georgia.. They voted for Newt. How dumb can a population get?
Nevada?… They have no rules on collection calls. They are trying to position themselves as business friendly, which is why a lot of our scams received here in Delaware, come out of Nevada.
Arizona? There you are pregnant as soon as you have your period… Again, how dumb can a population get?
The standard correlation appears that the dumber you are as a state, the more you get suckered by calls. Delaware might be the exception, because of our familiarity with the ins and outs of banking.
Or it could be Sussex dragging down the number. Which gets to both your old and dumber speculation.
Kavips,
Personally, I don’t think any of those states are “dumb”. Fairfax County ( Where I have also lived )is in many ways a bedroom community of Washington D.C.. Recently I’ve personally experienced more “stupidity” from our supreme executive than anything Fairfax county ever threw at me.
I would rather live in Kent County Delaware so I do. Corruption in Kent County and Delaware in general is more blatant IMO and that’s saying something.
Forgive my age. Long ago (meaning the seventies and sixties)being liberal meant you don’t accuse one person of something out of hand because another person who looks like them or comes from the same place might have done that thing.
See the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended.
For a quick example, a black man robs a cab and you read about it. A liberal cab driver wouldn’t have a problem picking up passengers of any race based on that article.
I made a lot of money like that driving a cab in Atlantic City. People of all colors will harm you or pay you, you have to use common sense and take people as you find them. That’s arguably called being open minded and free from bigotry. What liberal used to mean.
Today anyone on what we call the ‘left’ here in America can claim the label liberal. Times change.
Calling everybody in a state dumb because of a political difference? Is that smart?
Corruption here in Delaware is a serious problem.
The good news is that it can be fixed. Say something. Don’t be afraid. Old school liberalism 101.
Corny? Old fashioned? Starry eyed idealism? Guilty. Don’t get all bent out of shape with me though. I’m fifty. Cut an old man a break?
Comment by cassandra_m on 13 April 2012 at 4:34 pm:
Or it could be Sussex dragging down the number. Which gets to both your old and dumber speculation.
Yes, retirees are often targets of identity theft. They grew up in a different time, some people call these persons elders.
I’m not sure why you think that you are smarter than them. How sophisticated would you be regarding wire fraud and such if you grew up in a different time?
This liberal has been led to believe that none of us would be here without progenitors. If we don’t advance knowledge from generation to generation that’s not good. I’m led to believe that you think disparaging prior generations is a good thing.
Some mental health professionals might opine that such only reflects on your own sense of self worth, and that not well.
Yes, many older persons will tend to harbor more conservative views as well. Not all. Especially in Sussex County. You never met my mom. She made most folks posting here look like John Birchers. She lived in Sussex County and died at her home in Lewes.
I’ll thank you not to disparage my mother. Unless you want to try me on for size in a flame war. Fair warning, I’ve been doing that since the days of the 300 baud modem when the ‘internet’ was a ‘mail run’ from whatever bulletin board you were on.
Care to jump in? Because you may not be old but that’s one of the dumbest most bigoted things I’ve read recently.
Kent County, you say? Well thanks, Doug, for adding another data point to the thesis.
Fair warning? Flame war? LOL!
Be right back, gotta get the popcorn.
@cassandra, likewise 😉
@pandora – don’t strain anything 🙂