MA Is #2 In The Country (CT Is #1) To See Increase In This Crime

It's National Consumer Protection Week, Massachusetts residents, so this post couldn't be more timely. This week is all about helping consumers understand their rights and how to avoid rip-offs and scams.

One of the most serious crimes that you hear a lot about nowadays (which just keeps getting bigger by the day) is identity fraud. Also known as identity theft or identity piracy, it involves somebody wrongfully obtaining your personal info and using it for nefarious reasons such as financial gain.

WWLP/22 News Springfield reports, according to data collected from 2022 and 2023, the Federal Trade Commission recently released a report naming the top 10 states where identity theft is on the rise the most.

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And wouldn't you know it? A couple of New England states are sandwiched right there at the top of the list. Connecticut ranks at #1, followed immediately by Massachusetts at #2! 

As a matter of fact, over the past 5 years, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Ohio saw the largest increases in reported incidents of identity theft. Maybe your job requires you to have a number of different passwords for every little thing?

Identity theft and fraud are some of the reasons why you should have at least a few different passwords to access all you need to access. As I said at the top of this post, this is the week where you should really double down and focus on some key points.

According to WWLP, "identity theft" can be a pretty broad term, but basically anytime somebody uses your information for whatever reason such as to gain access to your company's database or to use your credit cards, that's identity theft.

However, there is plenty you can do to protect yourself. For instance, if you're getting rid of any personal documents, make sure you shred them before throwing them in the trash. For more tips and more info, visit WWLP's website here.