Research reveals USA's biggest business fraud hotspots

New research, undertaken by anti-fraud experts SEON, has revealed the USA areas with the highest rates of business fraud per 100,000 people.

The research used data from Action Fraud and recorded both the total number of fraud reports in each area as well as the total number of business or corporate fraud cases. It then compared this to population data, giving relative rates of fraud and business fraud in each geographical area, allowing comparisons to be made. 

Nevada was the USA’s biggest business fraud hotspot, with 18.94 reports of business fraud per 100,000 people. This is more than 2.5 times the rate of the country’s best-performing state, Nebraska, where there were only 7.24 reports per 100,000 people. 

Not far behind Nevada was second-place hotspot, Maryland, which recorded 18.03 reports of business fraud per 100,000 residents. Despite having almost double the number of business fraud incidents than Nevada, Maryland’s large population puts it in second place overall.

In third place, with 17.13 cases of business fraud per 100,000 people, is Arkansas. Despite the low total number of business fraud reports, this southern state has a much higher than average rate of business fraud when looked at on a per capita basis.

Tamas Kadar, CEO at SEON comments on the findings: “Over the last two years, we have seen more people than ever before moving their business online as well as accommodating more remote workers as the world has navigated numerous lockdowns. With more people online, the tools criminals have at their disposal to commit fraud against both individuals and businesses have skyrocketed, putting hard-earned money at risk and causing major consequences.

“It’s interesting to see which parts of the USA had the highest rates of business fraud, as well as the states and cities that have the most costly business fraud, in order to spread awareness of the dangers and implications of business fraud in these areas. 

“Unfortunately, it’s easier than ever to commit crime online so in order to help combat business fraud, you need some form of dedicated fraud prevention system in place with security training for your employees to enable you to conduct business safely and securely.”