Positive News for Iowa in the Battle Against Identity Theft

The holiday season is a good time to remember, as you are swiping that plastic on purchase after purchase, to be cautious. There are scammers and thieves out there waiting to strike and take hold of your info. The New Year could be less than happy for you if that happens, but it's good to know here in Iowa, we are much less susceptible to that than elsewhere in the country. At least, that's according to WalletHub, who put out their statistics in a survey called "2021's States Most Vulnerable to Identity Theft and Fraud."

In fact, we did so well in the Hawkeye State, we came in at #51! Yes, the LEAST vulnerable state (including District of Columbia...why aren't they just an official state yet) to identity theft and fraud. We had the fewest identity theft complaints per capita, and the third least identity fraud complaints per capita.

Just behind us in the least vulnerable category were Connecticut, Idaho, West Virginia and Montana.

Taking a look at some of our fellow midwest states, fared, working from the bottom, as in the least vulnerable, we see:

• Iowa (51)
• Indiana (46)
• Wisconsin (45)
• Nebraska (40)
• Michigan (39)
• Missouri (38)
• South Dakota (37)
• Minnesota (34)
• North Dakota (8)
• Illinois (6)
• Kansas (3)

As you see, most Midwest states are doing quite well against identity theft and fraud.

Who are the MOST susceptible to identity theft/fraud?

• Washington state
• Colorado
• Kansas
• Rhode Island
• Delaware

As to how they determined all this:

In order to determine where American consumers are most vulnerable to identity theft and fraud, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: 1) Identity Theft, 2) Fraud and 3) Policy.

It's good to be #1! Here's to safe shopping this season.