With phishing attacks and online fraud surging these past few months, email communication experts at AI-powered platform Mailgo analyzed FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center data to rank the states based on scam frequency and financial impact.
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Key findings:
- Arizona ranks 2nd nationally with a scam effect score of 94.71, reflecting both exceptionally high complaint frequency and substantial financial losses.
- The state records 2.65 scam complaints per 1,000 citizens, while its residents lose $51.76 per person to scams.
- Arizona joins five other Western states in the top ten, including Nevada (1st), California (3rd), Wyoming (4th), Washington (5th), and Colorado (6th).
- Nationally, scam complaints are surging, with extortion leading at 40.50% growth, followed by crimes against children (30.02%), and investment fraud (22.10%) from 2022 to 2024.
Top 10 U.S. States Most Affected by Scams
| Rank | State | Scam Complaints per 1k-citizens | Losses per Citizen ($) | Scam Effect Score |
| 1 | Nevada | 3.28 | 82.26 | 100.00 |
| 2 | Arizona | 2.65 | 51.76 | 94.71 |
| 3 | California | 2.44 | 64.39 | 93.69 |
| 4 | Wyoming | 2.34 | 74.03 | 92.67 |
| 5 | Washington | 2.26 | 46.27 | 87.41 |
| 6 | Colorado | 2.49 | 40.88 | 86.39 |
| 7 | Florida | 2.23 | 45.86 | 85.37 |
| 8 | Maryland | 2.39 | 38.16 | 81.19 |
| 9 | Massachusetts | 2.00 | 47.49 | 81.14 |
| 10 | Alaska | 9.15 | 35.53 | 80.12 |
Crimes Showing the Highest Increase in Complaints
| Rank | Crime Type | 2022 Complaints | 2023 Complaints | 2024 Complaints | Year-over-Year Change (%) |
| 1 | Extortion | 39,416 | 48,223 | 86,415 | 40.50% |
| 2 | Crimes Against Children | 2,587 | 2,361 | 4,472 | 30.02% |
| 3 | Investment | 30,529 | 39,570 | 47,919 | 22.10% |
| 4 | Government Impersonation | 11,554 | 14,190 | 17,367 | 20.23% |
| 5 | Employment | 14,946 | 15,443 | 20,044 | 15.16% |
| 6 | Ransomware | 2,385 | 2,825 | 3,156 | 13.82% |
| 7 | Other | 9,966 | 8,808 | 12,318 | 11.35% |
| 8 | Data Breach | 2,795 | 3,727 | 3,204 | 6.31% |
| 9 | Personal Data Breach | 58,859 | 55,851 | 64,882 | 5.03% |
| 10 | Tech Support | 32,538 | 37,560 | 36,002 | 4.90% |
A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that around 24% of U.S. adults say they got a scam email, text message, or call that led them to share personal information. In addition, IdentityTheft.org also reported that email remains the primary method for phishing scams.
Lennon Han, email communications expert at Mailgo, comments:
“Arizona’s large senior population and status as a top retirement destination make it the second-most targeted state for scams nationwide. Fraudsters systematically exploit the state’s demographics through phishing emails impersonating Medicare, Social Security, and pension administrators, while real estate scams prey on the constant influx of new residents and property investors. Technical email authentication and threat-detection systems provide essential protection that awareness alone cannot deliver, helping identify and block fraudulent messages before they reach inboxes.”
Full methodology:
For the index:
This study identifies the U.S. states most affected by scams by analyzing complaint and loss data from the 2024 FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Annual Report. Two core metrics were calculated: total scam complaints per 10,000 residents and total losses per 100,000 residents, providing a standardized comparison of how frequently scams occur and how financially damaging they are in each state.
For the time-series analysis:
We compared IC3’s reported complaint counts for major crime types across 2022, 2023, and 2024, calculating the year-over-year percentage change to highlight which scams are rising fastest nationwide. All figures were sourced directly from the 2024 IC3 report to ensure consistency across metrics.
