New York Among Top 10 States Most Affected By Cybercrime

New York is becoming a popular target for cybercriminals, which has resulted in residents losing an incredible amount of money.

It seems a new scam is making the rounds every day. Recently, the United States Post Office recently warned of a text scam that has stolen information from millions of people.

Shortly after, several banks issued alerts to their customers after scammers began using artificial intelligence to drain countless bank accounts. Now, with students graduating from high school and college, scammers are going after them with phony job offers to steal their social security numbers.

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WIBX's own Bill Keeler was fooled by an extremely sophisticated student loan scam that understandably caused headaches for his family.

This comes as New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said cyberattack complaints have risen by 53% in New York State alone. A report from StateScoop found that the Empire State lost a resounding $775 million in 2022 due to cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.

Cyberattacks continue to wreak havoc in the Empire State, with Rome Health recently falling victim to a massive ransomware attack that rendered them unable to process insurance payments.

Read More: Sen. Schumer Demands Feds Address Cyber Attack on Rome Health

The FBI has been tracking all instances of cybercrime and in its 2023 Internet Crime Report, it determined how much money has been lost to these bad actors. Statista analyzed the data to determine the states that lose the most money to this type of crime.

In 2023, New York residents lost $749.9 million to cybercriminals - making it the fourth most targeted state. Last year, about 21,000 residents were victimized by cybercrime and, on average, lost about $35,000 per person.

Here's the 5 states that lost the most money to cybercriminals in 2023:

1. California - $2.159 billion
2. Texas - $1.021 billion
3. Florida - $874.72 million
4. New York - $749.9 million
5. New Jersey - $441.1 million

Cybercrime is a growing threat to the American public. Now with the introduction of artificial intelligence, bad actors are able to launch more sophisticated attacks and fool even more unsuspecting victims.

It's encouraged that those with weak or repetitive passwords to use strong and unique codes for their most sensitive accounts - such as banking or loan-related profiles.  Same goes for personal accounts that host private information that could be weaponized and used as blackmail.

Experts also encourage people to trust their gut when something seems fishy when talking to a self-proclaimed representative of a bank, company, or others. If you feel like you are being targeted, or became a victim of cybercrime, make a report to the FBI.