Florida’s first in fraud
Bottom Line: One of our favorite shows is American Greed. The show depicts how criminals successfully scammed victims until they were eventually caught. Now in its 12th year the running joke in our house is whether the next episode will have a scam that started in South Florida or ended here. It’s almost always one or the other.
Yesterday the Federal Trade Commission released its top cities for fraud, and we have more than a third of them in Florida. No kidding. The whole country and 36% of the worst cities for fraud are in Florida. But wait here’s the best (worst) part that’ll probably come as no surprise. South Florida the absolute worst in the country. The Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro is ground zero for fraud in the United States.
Looking at the state in 2018, here’s what happened:
- 3 million victims (14% of all Floridians)
- 1.4 million documented cases of fraud
That number is almost crazy high. The average loss for victims was $375. And what’s the most common way people were approached by the fraudsters...? Yep the phone. 69% of the time. That’s why the call scamming is worse than ever – especially in South Florida. Because it’s more successful than ever – especially in South Florida. It might sound repetitious, but scammers are so skilled they can catch you off guard, never give any personal information over the phone on a call you didn’t initiate. Remember that and you’ll reduce your risk of being a victim by nearly 70%. Otherwise – being skeptical is being smart – especially in South Florida.