While it’s not directly a tech-related insight, fraud, social engineering, and phishing attacks are generally related to modern technology. For example, someone might promise to sell you and your family a condo, with all financial transactions taking place through a digital pay service like PayPal or Cash App. What they’re really doing is lying, never giving you access to a property and virtually stealing your money. Whatever the case may be, fraud is fairly common to run into these days. In the state where I live, Florida, we regularly see fraud taking place and now, I have a much better understanding of why — outside of the usual knee slap reaction “it’s Florida, duh!”

A new study from Spartacus Law Firm reveals the top 10 states where you’ll find rampant fraud. More importantly, in those states, you’ll find that thieves and would-be nefarious deedsters commonly get away with it. Needless to say, these are pseudo lawless lands where crime really does pay. Honestly, some of the answers are surprising, but most of them make sense. Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

The top 10 states where criminals are most likely to get away with fraud

Sitting right at the top of the list is, yep, you guessed it, Florida. Driven by the highest report volume and exposure risk, there are nearly 360,000 fraud reports total, with 1,682 per 100,000 reports. The crime clearance rate is slightly better than some of the other states, however, at $13.8%, which is the solve rate of related cases. A composite score was assigned to each state, with Florida receiving an 88.4.

California comes in second. No surprise there, either. The state earned a composite score of 75, with 369,703 fraud incidents reported — the highest raw number nationwide. What is interesting is that, despite California’s large size, the clearance rate is a measly 10.9%, which means its adjusted fraud rate of 937 reports exposes a systemic enforcement gap.

Texas, where everything is bigger, comes in third place. It has a composite score of 70, with 344,117 total fraud reports and a per capita rate of 1,192. It does have a higher clearance rate, like Florida, at 13.8% which means the local enforcement teams are relatively tough on crime. That’s a net positive.

From then on, you have Georgia in fourth place (70.8 score), Nevada (64.3), Arizona (56.7), Maryland (53.4), Delaware (51.6), Colorado (48.4), and South Carolina (46.7). The states with higher clearance rates, of 13% or higher, include Florida, Texas, Georgia, Maryland, Delaware, and South Carolina.

How was this data calculated?

During the study, researchers evaluated each state by using three weighted indicators.

• Fraud reports per 100,000 people — (40%)
• Total number of fraud reports — (30%)
• Inverse of the related crime clearance rate — (30%)

All metrics are normalized using min-max scaling techniques. In addition, the clearance rate — used as a proxy for enforcement success — was inverted to emphasize risk. That also means that higher composite scores indicate a greater likelihood of fraudsters evading the consequences of their actions.

What does it all mean?

In short, the data analysis tells us in which U.S. states you’re more likely to encounter fraudulent activities, but also where is it least likely to result in criminal capture. Criminals and thieves tend to get away with more in states where there’s a higher composite score, like Florida, which is precisely why it’s at the top of the list. Also, since I live here, that does seem to correlate with reality and makes sense. Fraud is a pretty big deal here, from real estate fraud to general theft, identity concerns, and beyond.

Chandon Alexander, the founding member and CEO of Spartacus Law Firm — where this data comes from — makes it clear that this is a widespread problem, and not just in a select few states.

“Fraud is no longer just a financial threat – it’s an enforcement crisis. States with low clearance rates are unintentionally signaling to bad actors that fraud can be committed with minimal risk of consequences. What’s especially concerning is the correlation between high case volumes and low resolution rates, creating systemic vulnerabilities. Without investment in investigative capacity, these trends are likely to intensify.”

That last point he’s trying to make is that law enforcement and investigative agencies need a consistent and reliable way to boost fraud investigations, not just to cut down on fraud in the present but also to help beat it back, eliminating more cases in the future. We need to be proactive, whenever possible, which starts with the right investments in the right strategies. Of course, I’m no crime fighter or expert myself, so I’m just building off of what the data tells us.

And for those thinking of moving to one of the listed states, if you do make that move, be careful. It shows how common fraud is to encounter and almost everyone thinks it won’t affect them until it does. Yes, I’ve encountered fraud in myriad ways.

This story was originally shared by Spartacus Law Firm.