PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island residents have become much more vulnerable to identity theft and fraud in comparison to other states over the last year, according to a recent analysis by WalletHub.
A year ago, the personal finance website concluded that Rhode Island was the second-least-vulnerable state in the nation to identity theft and fraud, but a new analysis released Wednesday ranks
Rhode Island as the 22nd most-vulnerable state.
WalletHub analysts evaluated each state and the District of Columbia across three dimensions: theft, fraud and policy. Data from the Federal Trade Commission, Internet Crime Complaint Center, FBI, Experian Information Solutions and the National Conference of State Legislatures, as of Nov. 5, was used to create this year's ranking.
Rhode Island ranked No. 23 for theft, No. 22 for fraud and No. 32 for policy for an overall score of 48.43 out of 100. This latest ranking was a setback for the Ocean State, which ranked 50th out of 51 in WalletHub's 2024 report.
It was not immediately clear what caused Rhode Island's decline in the ranking.
Florida is the most vulnerable state in the nation to identity theft and fraud, according to WalletHub. The Sunshine State ranks third for identity theft, second for fraud and No. 32 for policy rank for an overall score of 72.60.
California was second, followed by Georgia, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.
Vermont was the least vulnerable state, according to WalletHub. That state ranks last for theft, No. 49 for fraud and No. 19 for policy. Montana was No. 50, below Connecticut, West Virginia and Maine.
Massachusetts was ranked No. 25 overall. The BayState ranked No. 13 for theft, No. 17 for fraud and third for policy.
The full report can be found here.