When examined at the five-digit ZIP Code level, the U.S. identity fraud "hot spots" where criminal activity is rising the fastest include the cities of Springfield, Illinois; Bozeman, Montana and Missoula, Montana. The U.S. counties that emerged as hot spots in the last year, based on analysis at the three-digit ZIP Code level, include 13 counties in North Dakota and seven counties in Montana. The research also showed that in general identity fraud rates are increasing in the upper Midwest, Northern California, Utah, Nevada and Maine. Identity fraud rates appear to be decreasing in the Southern U.S. and staying consistent in such areas as Southern California, the Mexican border of Texas and in cities like Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon.
"These findings may seem surprising because none of these emerging hot spots are high population density areas, and some are even rural," said Stephen Coggeshall, ID Analytics' chief technology officer and the author of the research. "Our methodology allowed us to compare fraud rates across areas with differing populations to see where fraud is rising most quickly on a per capita basis. While identity fraud rates remain high in many large metropolitan areas like New York, Los Angeles and Detroit, we are seeing substantial emergence of these crimes in more rural areas like Montana and South Dakota. This may indicate a trend toward popularization of this crime, as well as point out that perpetrators are discovering that they can act under the radar in these remote rural areas."
