CHARLOTTE, N.C.–Identity theft reports involving a credit card grew by 7.8% in 2024, according to a LendingTree analysis of government data. And it probably won’t surprise many that the analysis found Florida residents the most likely to file.
LendingTree said it analyzed Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book data to learn more about the state of credit card identity theft in America, saying it found it’s clear that ID theft remains a massive problem in the U.S., and there can be a wide variance among states regarding reporting.”
For the five years from 2020 to 2024, Americans filed more than 2 million credit card ID theft reports. That’s an average of 1,144 every day or 48 every hour. Those numbers are staggering, especially when you consider not every incident of identity theft gets reported, LendingTree stated.
Key Findings
According to Lending Tree, key findings of its study include:
- Credit card fraud is the most commonly reported form of identity theft, and it grew significantly in 2024. There were 449,032 reports of identity theft involving credit cards in 2024, up 7.8% from 2023. “In 2024, this fraud accounted for 39.6% of ID theft reports, similar to 40.2% in 2023. In 88.6% of 2024 credit card fraud cases, stolen identities were used to open a new credit card, while 11.4% involved changes to an existing account,” LendingTree said.
- 30-somethings are the most likely age group to report credit card-related ID theft. Three in four credit card fraud reports in the U.S. were made by people ages 20 to 49, with those 30 to 39 making up the largest share (32.7%). Americans 60 or older account for just 10.8%.
- Florida’s rate of credit card-related ID theft reporting was nearly double the national average. The Sunshine State’s rate was 264.5 per 100,000 residents in 2024, ahead of Georgia (241.8) and the District of Columbia (233.9). The lowest rates were in Wyoming (32.1 per 100,000), South Dakota (33.0) and Vermont (33.9). Nationwide, there were 135.1 reports per 100,000 population, according to LendingTree.
- Massachusetts had the largest year-over-year jump in credit card ID theft reports. Reports in the state rose by 64.1%, followed by Georgia (22.4%) and Louisiana (21.3%). In contrast, 23 states saw declines, with the largest in Nebraska (29.9%), Kansas (19.4%) and Wyoming (16.2%), LendingTree said.
The Specifics
When it comes to more specific information around credit card fraud, LendingTree’s analysis found:
- 88.6% reported credit card fraud cases in 2024 were about someone’s stolen identity being used to open a new credit card. Just 11.4% involved changes to an existing account.
- Credit card fraud accounted for 39.6% ID theft reports in the U.S. in 2024. “That’s largely unchanged from 40.2% in 2023 and 39.8% in 2022, but up significantly from 2021’s 27.2% and 2020’s 28.4%. (Reports of government benefits fraud spiked in those years, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic),” LendingTree said.
