[wakeride74]

Thought this was interesting and worth sharing - From the Mortgage Bankers Association
Quote:

MBA (8/3/2007 ) Sorohan, Mike When it comes to identity fraud “hot spots” in the U.S., Springfield, Ill., and Bozeman, Mont., don’t necessarily come to mind. But they and other rural areas should, according to new research from ID Analytics Inc., San Diego. The identity risk management company’s latest research found that rural areas show the fastest-rising rate of identity fraud risk. The company’s report found that 13 counties in North Dakota and seven counties in Montana emerged as identity fraud hot spots in 2006, and identity fraud rates showed sharp increases in the upper Midwest, northern California, Utah, Nevada and Maine. The results, said Stephen Coggeshall, ID Analytics' chief technology officer, are “surprising because none of these emerging hot spots are high population density areas, and some are even rural. While identity fraud rates remain high in many large metropolitan areas like New York, Los Angeles and Detroit, we are seeing substantial emergence of these crimes in more rural areas like Montana and North Dakota.” Identity fraud rates appear to be decreasing in the Southern U.S. and remaining consistent in such areas as Southern California, the Mexican border of Texas and in cities such as Seattle, Wash., and Portland, Ore. ID analytics used methodologies applied against data in its ID Network system to examine how identities behave across organizations. The Federal Trade Commission reports that identity theft represents nearly 40 percent of all fraud complaints, most involving wire transfers. According to the data, the 10 cities and their respective ZIP codes where identity fraud increased most rapidly during 2006 were: 1. Springfield, Ill. (62707) 2. Bozeman, Mont. (59715 and 59718) 3. Missoula, Mont. (59804, 59803 and 59808) 4. Whitefish, Mont. (59937) 5. Lolo, Mont. (59847) 6. Bismarck, N.D. (58504) 7. Hamilton, Mont. (59840) 8. Bigfork, Mont. (59911) 9. Grand Forks, N.D. (58201) 10. Fargo, N.D. (58104) Counties that most strongly emerged as identity fraud hot spots in the past year were: 1. Divide, McKenzie and Williams counties, N.D. (588XX ZIP) 2. Adams, Billings, Bowman, Dunn, Golden Valley, Hettinger, McKenzie, Morton, Slope and Stark counties, N.D. (586XX ZIP) 3. Granite, Lake, Missoula, Mineral, Powell, Ravalli and Sanders counties, Mont. (598XX ZIP) Coggeshall said the data “may indicate a trend toward popularization of this crime, as well as point out that perpetrators are discovering that they can act under the radar in these remote rural areas." The research was based on actual and attempted frauds confirmed by businesses, rather than on consumer victim reports and examined data from January through December 2006 to determine where identity fraud is most rapidly increasing.