Whatcom owns state’s highest rate of ID theft — here are our most common types this year
Whatcom County had a higher rate of identity theft reported during the first six months of 2022 than any other metro area within Washington state, according to data released by the Federal Trade Commission.
The Bellingham metropolitan area, which includes all of Whatcom County, had 252 reports of identity theft during the first two quarters of the year — approximately 112 reports per 100,000 people, according the fraud and identity theft data released by the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network. None of the other 10 metropolitan areas within the state had rates of higher than 92 (Vancouver-Portland-Hillsboro).
For comparison, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area had 91 reports per 100,000 residents (3,585 total reports) and the Mount Vernon-Anacortes metro area (Skagit County) had 59 reports per 100,000 reports (75 total reports).
“Scams affect everyone. And we mean everyone — your family, friends, and neighbors,” the FTC said in a release announcing the updated data on Friday, Sept. 2.
The good news for Whatcom County is despite owning the highest ID theft rate in the state, its number of reports is actually down from the first six months of 2021, when the Bellingham metro area had 382 reports, or about 170 reports per 100,000 residents.
So what identity theft types hit Whatcom County victims the hardest during the first six months of 2022? According to the FTC there were:
▪ 124 reports involving bank fraud.
▪ 61 reports involving credit card fraud.
▪ 28 reports involving employment or tax-related fraud.
▪ 16 reports of phone or utilities fraud.
▪ 12 reports of loan or lease fraud.
▪ 11 reports of government documents or benefits fraud.
▪ 36 reports involving other identity theft.
Overall, Washington state had 6,125 identity theft reports during the first six months of 2022, or about 82 reports per 100,000 residents. Nationwide there were 603,591 reports, according to the FTC data.
The number of fraud reports during the first half of 2022 also were down from 2021 in Whatcom County, according to the FTC, with 934 reports, or approximately 416 per 100,000 residents. In 2021, though numbers were 1,245 total reports during the first six months and 554 per 100,000 residents.
Whatcom’s 2022 rate also is slightly lower than the average of 430 per 100,000 residents in Washington state, which saw a total of 22,702 fraud reports for a total of $95 million in losses during the first six months. Nationally, there were more than one million fraud reports resulting in more than $3.8 billion in losses.
Whatcom County’s top five fraud categories during the first six months of 2022 included: imposter scams (256 reports), online shopping and negative reviews (96 reports), prizes sweepstakes and lotteries (33 reports), telephone and mobile services (25 reports) and investment related (17 reports).
In addition to notifying local law enforcement, the FTC recommends all fraud or identity theft victims report it to them at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
