Credit Card Fraud Statistics Everyone Should Know in 2023

In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that there were 5.7 million reports related to consumer fraud, and credit card fraud was one of the most reported types. The top two types of fraud included identity theft and impostor scams, which can also relate to credit card fraud. With this type of fraud being so prevalent, it’s helpful to know the data so you can know what to look out for.

When you become the target of credit card fraud, it can damage your credit score and make it difficult to recover. Here, we’ll go over some of the most important findings as well as what you can do if you’ve become the victim of credit card fraud.

Table of contents:

1. Identity theft in the U.S.
2. Identity theft in the U.S. by age
3. Identity theft by state
4. Credit card fraud in the U.S.
5. Global credit card fraud losses by year
6. Data breaches by year
7. How credit card fraud hurts your credit score

Key credit card fraud statistics

Credit card fraud was down in the United States between 2020 and 2021, but it’s still a major problem. In addition to someone stealing your personal information, resulting in fraud, it’s also possible for a company you use to have its data breached. The following are some key findings from the data we collected:

• There were over 389,000 cases of credit card fraud reported to the FTC in 2021 (Federal Trade Commission)
• The largest data breach of credit card information happened in 2009 to Heartland Systems, and it affected 160 million credit cards (U.S. Department of Justice)
• Global losses from credit card fraud totaled over $32 billion in 2021 (Nilson)
• In 2021, Texas had the most reported cases of credit card fraud with over 146,000 reports (Federal Trade Commission)
• People ages 30 to 39 reported the most cases of credit card fraud in 2021, but those 80 years and older experienced the highest median loss of $1,500 per report (Federal Trade Commission)

Identity theft in the U.S.

According to the FTC, identity theft was the most common form of fraud reported during 2021. Identity theft accounted for just over 25% of all of the reports, which totaled 1.4 million reports during that year. 

There are many ways criminals use stolen identities, but the most common form identified in the FTC report was people using stolen identities to open checking and savings accounts. This type of identity theft was up 64%compared to the previous year.

It’s also beneficial to remember that these are just the reported cases. There are many victims who never report these types of crimes to the FTC, so this number is likely higher than 1.4 million cases.

The seven common types of identity theft

Although criminals are likely to use stolen identities to open checking and savings accounts, there are seven common types of identity theft. Although criminals are likely to use stolen identities to open checking and savings accounts, there are seven types of theft that lead to stolen identities. This can include phone and utility fraud, government document or benefits fraud as well as tax-related fraud. Criminals then use these methods for fraudulent activities. 

Government documents and benefits fraud leads the list with almost 400,000 cases reported, but it’s down two and a half percent compared to 2020. While this type of identity theft and credit card fraud is down, bank fraud increased by nearly 40%.

Type of identity fraud	Cases reported in 2021	Percent change from 2020
Government documents or benefits fraud	395,948	-2.5%
Credit card fraud	389,737	-.8%
Other identity theft	377,102	6.7%
Loan or lease fraud	197,914	-3.4%
Bank fraud	124,388	39%
Employment or tax-related fraud	111,723	-1.5%
Phone or utilities fraud	88,813	-10%

Source: Federal Trade Commission Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2020 and 2021

Reported frauds in the U.S. by age

The most recent data from 2021 shows that adults between the ages of 60 and 69 experienced the most cases of fraud, but those between 30 and 39 had the most losses that totaled almost $600 million. 

Age group	Percentage of cases	Reported cases	Total losses (in millions)
19 and under	3%	42,054	$51
20 to 29 years old	14%	186,639	$363
30 to 39 years old	17%	221,870	$598
40 to 49 years old	14%	191,372	$495
50 to 59 years old	16%	208,411	$484
60 to 69 years old	19%	249,597	$521
70 to 79 years old	12%	164,902	$364
80 and older	4%	52,325	$149

Source: Federal Trade Commission Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2021

Those between 30 and 39 years old experienced the most losses—however, Americans 80 years and older experienced the highest losses per person. The FTC also tracks the median amount of money lost, and those 80 years and older had a median loss of $1,500. To put that into perspective, reports for people between 20 and 69 years old lost closer to $500 per case. 

Identity theft by age

The age group that reported the most cases of identity theft were those between 30 and 39 years old, similar to the total amount of fraud cases reported. Identity theft prevention is crucial, but many people of all ages don’t know what it entails. One notable data point is that compared to the FTC’s 2020 report, there was a significant decrease in identity theft for those 40 to 59 years old. This may be due to the fact that during 2020, many adults were receiving government benefits from the COVID pandemic, which led to a high amount of cases reported for government benefit forms of identity theft.

Age group	Reports of identity theft in 2021	Percentage change
19 and under	22,833	-3.5%
20 to 29 years old	191,334	.22%
30 to 39 years old	308,910	.92%
40 to 49 years old	266,269	-12%
50 to 59 years old	206,514	-15%
60 to 69 years old	118,093	-4%
70 to 79 years old	45,068	16%
80 and older	9,917	.02%

Source: Federal Trade Commission Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2021

Identity theft by state

Every state, including the District of Columbia, is affected by identity theft. In 2021, Texas had the highest number of identity theft reports, with over 146,000 total reports. Texas is one of the most populated states, so when looking at the number of reports per 100,000 population, Rhode Island had the most reports at 2,857. Wyoming had the least reports at 620.

State	Total number of reports	Reports per 100k population
AK	896	122
AL	19,691	402
AR	6,358	211
AZ	28,108	386
CA	133,119	337
CO	33,572	583
CT	6,666	187
DE	5,449	560
FL	110,675	522
GA	65,666	618
HI	2,993	211
IA	3,758	119
ID	2,719	152
IL	117,056	924
IN	11,866	176
KS	39,461	1,355
KY	10,416	233
LA	34,043	732
MA	16,566	240
MD	29,778	493
ME	2,239	167
MI	20,556	206
MN	9,457	168
MO	13,372	218
MS	9,906	333
MT	1,130	106
NC	30,318	289
ND	999	131
NE	2,409	125
NH	2,205	162
NJ	31,857	359
NM	4,611	220
NV	17,985	584
NY	109,466	563
OH	50,421	431
OK	6,850	173
OR	8,016	190
PA	54,460	425
RI	30,270	2,857
SC	17,642	343
SD	673	76
TN	20,254	297
TX	146,095	504
UT	8,016	189
VA	19,217	225
VT	825	132
WA	12,917	170
WI	11,253	193
WV	2,845	159
WY	620	107

Source: Federal Trade Commission Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2021

Top 25 metropolitan areas with the most identity theft

Looking even closer at which areas have the most reports of identity theft, Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area had the most per 100,000 people at 1,981. Illinois had the most reports within a metropolitan area, which came from the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area at over 92,000 total reports.

Metropolitan area	Total number of reports	Reports per 100k population
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area	92,239	975
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area	57,733	817
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area	51,751	839
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area	51,172	850
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area	32,176	1,981
Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area	17,291	801
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV Metropolitan Statistical Area	15,055	664
Cleveland-Elyria, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area	13,833	675
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area	12,434	924
Baton Rouge, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area	10,126	1,184
Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area	8,825	1,378
New Orleans-Metairie, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area	8,311	654
Rochester, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area	6,929	648
Lafayette, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area	5,931	1,212
Syracuse, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area	4,423	682
Topeka, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area	3,591	1,548
Tuscaloosa, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area	2,907	1,153
Rockford, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area	2,393	712
Lawrence, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area	2,175	1,779
Springfield, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area	1,723	833
Champaign-Urbana, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area	1,462	647
Manhattan, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area	1,384	1,062
Bloomington, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area	1,269	740
Kankakee, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area	863	786
Decatur, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area	697	670

Credit card fraud in the U.S.

While government benefits fraud is the most common type of identity theft, credit card fraud is still a major problem in the United States. As shown in a previous table, this was the leading type of fraud for people ages 20 to 39, and there were almost 400,000 reports in 2021. 

States with the most and least credit card fraud complaints

In the FTC’s 2021 report, California had the highest amount of fraud complaints, which totaled over 391,000. This was roughly 70,000 more than the second state, Texas. The total amount lost in California due to credit card fraud was an astounding $820 million. The state with the least amount of reports was Wyoming, with 3,221 reports, but South Dakota had the lowest amount of losses at $6.8 million.

State	Total number of reports	Total losses
AK	6,906	$13,078,284
AL	26,986	$44,712,880
AR	16,142	$16,692,589
AZ	51,873	$116,030,737
CA	244,585	$820,858,149
CO	46,089	$87,975,013
CT	21,278	$40,886,958
DE	7,367	$14,135,903
FL	156,319	$331,282,322
GA	65,977	$112,980,173
HI	9,193	$22,502,406
IA	14,643	$21,219,834
ID	10,786	$16,949,046
IL	78,280	$128,953,942
IN	39,621	$46,881,596
KS	16,940	$19,916,988
KY	25,082	$30,598,771
LA	23,404	$30,022,528
MA	44,020	$91,319,599
MD	45,832	$93,976,802
ME	8,397	$9,708,190
MI	58,709	$83,309,393
MN	33,234	$60,317,592
MO	39,182	$52,266,861
MS	13,952	$23,422,036
MT	6,712	$9,582,342
NC	64,517	$93,015,171
ND	3,309	$8,897,094
NE	10,242	$14,314,521
NH	9,299	$13,660,810
NJ	54,494	$122,175,462
NM	13,773	$23,200,453
NV	24,729	$69,551,003
NY	123,684	$280,882,468
OH	69,970	$86,270,313
OK	22,036	$26,906,284
OR	30,950	$65,371,881
PA	79,178	$120,888,991
RI	6,758	$11,564,650
SC	30,918	$46,428,921
SD	3,698	$6,828,535
TN	42,606	$62,602,651
TX	169,503	$369,437,769
UT	19,327	$37,346,855
VA	59,345	$112,898,996
VT	4,132	$10,038,458
WA	57,453	$135,661,564
WI	33,942	$48,716,758
WV	10,219	$10,206,786
WY	3,221	$7,751,648

The most common forms of credit card fraud

There are two main forms of credit card fraud. These include fraud for existing accounts as well as fraud involving new accounts.

• New accounts: The thief will use your personal information to open a new credit card account under your name.
• Existing accounts: This is when the thief uses a card you already have to make purchases, which is done by using your information.

Fortunately, we’ve seen a slight decrease in both types of credit card fraud between 2020 and 2021.

Type of credit card fraud	Number of reports in 2021	Percentage change from 2020
New accounts	363,092	-.68%
Existing accounts	32,204	-4.8%

Source: Federal Trade Commission Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2020 and 2021

Global credit card fraud losses by year

Nilson creates an annual report tracking credit card fraud losses each year. While the United States has hundreds of thousands of credit card fraud reports via the FTC, there are many other countries that deal with credit card fraud as well. Since 2014, credit card fraud outside the United States has increased by roughly 87%.

Year	Losses inside the U.S. (in billions)	Losses outside the U.S. (in billions)
2014	$7.2	$10.9
2015	$8.4	$13.4
2016	$9	$13.8
2017	$8.9	$15
2018	$9.4	$18.4
2019	$9.6	$19
2020	$10.	$18.3
2021	$11.9	$20.4

Source: Nilson Report December 2022

Data breaches by year

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) tracks data breaches as well as the total number of victims in their annual report. The most recent data from 2022 shows that there were over 1,800 data breaches, which affected 422 million victims. The highest number of victims came from a Twitter data breach, which affected a total of 221.5 million victims. Twitter also had a second data breach that affected 5.4 million people.

The total number of data breaches dropped to 1,108 in 2020 and then jumped 68%in 2021. We’ve seen a slight decrease between 2021 and 2022 of about 3%.

Year	Data breaches
2017	1,506
2018	1,175
2019	1,279
2020	1,108
2021	1,862
2022	1,802

Source: ITRC 2022 Data Breach Report

Now, some may wonder why cybercriminals are targeting businesses more than individuals. The ITRC believes it’s much easier for these criminals to attack large companies that store millions of people’s data because they can get much more from a single attack.

Ransomware attacks are on the rise, when cybercriminals attack companies, steal sensitive user information and threaten to release it unless the victim pays a significant amount of money. In early 2023, Oakland declared a state of emergency after a ransomware attack caused network outages. And in 2022, Australia experienced multiple ransomware attacks, and one targeted Australian military personnel and defense staff.

Top 3 causes of data breaches

As a consumer, it’s beneficial to understand the causes of these data breaches. The ITRC’s report lists the top three causes of data breaches as cyberattacks, system and human errors, as well as physical attacks.

• Cyberattacks: Phishing emails, ransomware, malware, nonsecured cloud environment and credential stuffing
• System and human errors: Failure to configure cloud security, correspondence via email or physical mail, misconfigured firewall and lost devices or documents
• Physical attacks: document theft, device theft, improper disposal and skimming devices

Causes of data breaches	Number of attacks
Cyberattacks	11,595
System and human errors	151
Physical attacks	46

Source: ITRC 2022 Data Breach Report

The five largest credit card data breaches

Investopedia has created a list of the largest credit card data breaches to date. While it’s possible for your credit card information to be stolen if you click on the wrong link or someone steals your information, it can also be vulnerable due to a breach of your credit card company. The largest data breach of credit card information took place in 2009, which affected 160 million credit cards through companies like JC Penny, Wet Seal, JetBlue and many more.

Company	Year	Number of cards affected (in millions)
Heartland Systems	2009	160
Capital One	2019	106
TJX Companies	2006	94
TRW/Sears	1984	90
The Home Depot	2014	56

Sources: Investopedia, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, New York Times, U.S. Department of Justice

Most common forms of compromised data

Criminals who steal user data aren’t always looking for credit card numbers. In the ITRC 2022 report, they also compiled a list of the most common forms of compromised data. Most often, criminals steal a user’s name, and second on the list is a person’s Social Security number. Fortunately, only a small portion of these include a user’s bank account information.

Type of data stolen	Number of compromises
Name	1,560
Full social security number	1,143
Date of birth	633
Current home address	565
Driver’s license or state ID number	499
Medical history, condition, treatment or diagnosis	465
Bank account number	443
Medical insurance account number	370
Undisclosed records	226
Medical provider account or record number	196

Source: ITRC 2022 Data Breach Report

How credit card fraud hurts your credit score

As you now know, credit card fraud is a major issue in the United States as well as around the world. Even if you keep your personal information under lock and key, you’re still at risk of a company you use having their systems compromised by cybercriminals. Once your information is stolen, these thieves can make charges that are hard to reverse and harm your credit score.

If you’ve been the victim of a cybercrime or simply have a credit score that could use some work, Credit.com is here to help. We offer a variety of services like ExtraCredit, and we can help you manage and build your credit.

You can also get your free credit report card. Sign up here to see where your credit stands today!

Previous Post

« Can an Undocumented Immigrant Get a Mortgage?

Next Post

How to Get Out of Debt in 2023 »

You Might Also Like

When to Get Another Credit Card (If Ever)

Wondering if it's time to add another credit card to your wallet?... Read More

April 9, 2024

Credit Cards

Easiest Credit Cards to Get After Bankruptcy

There’s nothing fun about declaring bankruptcy, but those w... Read More

October 21, 2020

Credit Cards

3 Credit Cards with No Spending Limit

[UPDATE: Some offers mentioned below have expired and/or are... Read More

August 3, 2020

Credit Cards