Most Scammed Cities in America: FTC Data for 401 Metro Areas

Which city has the most scams?

The FTC doesn't count scams directly: it ranks metro areas by how many reports people file for every 100,000 residents. By that measure, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL came first in 2024, with 2,793 fraud and other reports per 100,000 people. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA (2,712) and Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL (2,612) came next, and Florida had 6 of the top 10. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL also had the highest identity theft rate: 903 reports per 100,000 people.

Top 10 metro areas for fraud and scams in 2024

Both lists are the FTC's own rankings. To look up your area, use the search further down.

By fraud and other reports per 100,000 people

1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL: 2,793 per 100,000
2. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA: 2,712 per 100,000
3. Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL: 2,612 per 100,000
4. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL: 2,330 per 100,000
5. North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL: 2,244 per 100,000
6. Charleston-North Charleston, SC: 2,141 per 100,000
7. Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL: 2,132 per 100,000
8. Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV: 2,122 per 100,000
9. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL: 2,051 per 100,000
10. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX: 2,046 per 100,000

By identity theft reports per 100,000 people

1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL: 903 per 100,000
2. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA: 690 per 100,000
3. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX: 573 per 100,000
4. Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV: 570 per 100,000
5. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL: 555 per 100,000
6. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA: 550 per 100,000
7. Baton Rouge, LA: 528 per 100,000
8. Killeen-Temple, TX: 482 per 100,000
9. Odessa, TX: 479 per 100,000
10. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX: 475 per 100,000

5 areas made both top 10 lists: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL; Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA; Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL; Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX.

Key numbers

• Florida stands out. It had 6 of the top 10 metro areas for fraud and other reports, and 14 of the top 50.
• Big cities file the most reports, but not the most per person. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ had the most fraud and other reports (309,066) but ranked 49th by rate. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA had the second most (191,725) and ranked 64th.
• A typical metro area: the middle one of the 401 had 1,009 fraud and other reports and 179 identity theft reports per 100,000 people (our calculation: the median of the FTC's rates).
• Lowest rates: Puerto Rico's 5 metro areas had the 5 lowest rates of fraud and other reports. Elsewhere, the lowest was El Centro, CA, with 523 per 100,000.

How to read these numbers

• They're reports, not a survey. The FTC says the Data Book "is based on unverified reports filed by consumers" and "is not based on a consumer survey" (p. 2). Many scams are never reported.
• "Fraud and other" is broader than scams. The FTC sorts reports into fraud, identity theft and other. The "other" group includes complaints about credit bureaus, debt collection and banks (pp. 7-8).
• Per 100,000 people. Metro areas "are ranked based on the number of reports per 100,000 population," using 2023 U.S. Census population estimates (p. 3).
• Which areas are listed. The FTC uses the federal government's (OMB's) metro area definitions and lists "Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas" with a population of 100,000 (p. 3). 33 of the 401 are smaller micropolitan areas, marked in the table. Each area is built from whole counties: one or more central counties plus nearby counties tied to them by commuting, so it covers much more than the city in its name (Census Bureau).
• One difference between the tables. For fraud and other reports, the FTC notes that "Reports exclude state-specific data contributor reports." Its identity theft table has no such note (pp. 74-75).
• They don't add up to the national totals. The 401 areas don't cover the whole country, so their rows add up to less than the national numbers.

What about 2025?

The FTC hasn't published metro area tables for 2025 in a Data Book yet. Nationally, it told Congress that "in 2025, consumers submitted 3 million fraud reports to CSN and reported $15.9 billion in losses" (FTC testimony, March 25, 2026). Its data pages link to interactive dashboards that are updated every quarter.

If it happened to you

• Lost money? Start with the scam recovery checklist.
• Not sure where to report? See where to report each kind of scam.
• Worried about identity theft? Freeze your credit, and see what to do if a scammer has your Social Security number.
• Want to protect an older parent? Make a family scam safety plan.
• More FTC data: the most scammed states, scams by age and how scams start and how people paid.