Is New York a Scam Hotspot?
These are the U.S. states most vulnerable to scams. See where New York ranks nationally.
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:
New York ranks 13th nationally (tied with Illinois) with a scam effect score of 71.81.
The state ranks 13th for financial losses, with residents losing an average of $45.50 per person—nearly identical to neighboring New Jersey ($45.77).
While New York has a lower complaint rate than the national leaders (1.84 per 1,000 citizens), the high per-capita loss suggests that when New Yorkers are hit, the financial damage is substantial.
Nationally, scam complaints are surging, with extortion leading at 40.50% growth, followed by crimes against children (30.02%) and investment fraud (22.10%) from 2022 to 2024.
Top 20 U.S. States Most Affected by Scams
Rank | State | Scam Complaints per 1k-citizens | Losses per Citizen ($) | 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 |
11 | Delaware | 2.67 | 35.76 | 78.08 |
12 | Texas | 1.99 | 43.19 | 73.90 |
13 | Illinois | 2.00 | 37.69 | 71.81 |
13 | New York | 1.84 | 45.50 | 71.81 |
15 | New Jersey | 1.65 | 45.77 | 65.59 |
16 | Oregon | 2.11 | 33.74 | 64.57 |
17 | Hawaii | 1.80 | 38.16 | 64.52 |
18 | Pennsylvania | 2.13 | 30.59 | 63.50 |
18 | Utah | 1.96 | 36.94 | 63.50 |
18 | Virginia | 1.98 | 36.02 | 63.50 |
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:
"As a global financial epicenter, New York remains a top-tier target for cybercriminals. The data shows that while New Yorkers may be more skeptical—resulting in fewer total complaints—the scams that do succeed are highly lucrative for fraudsters. We are seeing a spike in 'whale' phishing and business email compromise (BEC) attacks that mimic high-level corporate or financial correspondence. For New Yorkers, the threat isn't just the volume of spam, but the precision of the extortion and investment traps landing in their inboxes."
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