There’s definitely a reason why what happens in Vegas is often said to stay there.
A new study has ranked Nevada as the nation’s most deceptive state. This conclusion came after researchers analyzed a variety of factors, including scams, romance fraud, identity theft, bogus doctor notes, counterfeit IDs, and even the number of Google searches for the notorious infidelity site, Ashley Madison.
Interestingly, around one in five residents in Nevada admit to frequently cheating. The state is also noted for having the second-highest rate of romance scams, according to findings from the online tarot reading platform, Tarotoo.
In a high-profile case this past February, the FBI apprehended a Las Vegas woman dubbed a serial scammer. Aurora Phelps, 43, was charged with running what the FBI labeled a “love scam on steroids.” It’s alleged that she used dating apps to target men in their 60s and 70s, incapacitating them, stealing their identities, and draining their finances.
Reports indicate that three individuals lost their lives during this three-year crime spree.
While Nevada dominated the deception charts, other states were notable for their own alarming statistics.
Florida topped the list for reported fraud, with 2,179 cases per 100,000 people, also leading in identity theft with 528 cases per 100,000. In a striking incident from July, a woman in Florida lost $15,000 from her retirement savings due to a scam involving artificial intelligence that mimicked her daughter’s voice to create a fake emergency.
On a different note, Arizona reported the highest number of romance scams, resulting in a staggering $53.7 million in losses just last year.
As for New York, it found itself somewhere in the middle, ranking 26th among the 50 states for deceptiveness.
The most frequently reported scam in New York was identity fraud, with 36,926 reports, followed by online shopping and negative review fraud, which had 20,228 reports.
