SURVEY: Maine Pretty Tight When It Comes To Identity Theft And Fraud

Identity theft and fraud come in all kinds of different shapes and sizes and the scammers and thieves can get pretty creative when trying to take them from you.

Our friends at WalletHub.com recently conducted a survey based on many different measurements to see where Maine ranked when it comes to identity theft and fraud.

WalletHub compared all 50 states and Washington D.C. to determine which states were more or less susceptible to fraud and identity theft.

They looked for complaints per-capita and average loss amount due to fraud, to name a few.

The most vulnerable states for fraud and identity theft were:

1. Nevada
2. Florida
3. New Jersey
4. Delaware
5. California

The least vulnerable states for fraud and identity theft were:

1. Hawaii (51)
2. South Dakota (50)
3. Vermont (49)
4. Iowa (48)
5. Maine (47)

No too bad for a state where many people in the County didn't even know where their key was and left their doors unlocked when leaving the house.

Maine was in the top 5 when it came to states with the fewest identity theft and fraud complaints per capita compared to D.C. and Michigan who were tied for the most complaints.

Have you ever been a victim of identity theft or fraud? Here are some things you can do to prevent being the next victim the crooks go after.

• Make sure your email address is a secure one. Many 'free' email sites are known to give away your information, which can be detrimental to you and your personal security
• Credit Monitoring is a good thing to sign up for if you haven't already. You can look at free credit monitoring here.
• If you don't recognize the phone number, don't answer it. If you don't recognize the email, don't open it.