COVID-19 Fraud Statistics: Over $480 Million in Losses and Counting

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Originally published August 10, 2020. Updated July 14, 2021.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, scammers have taken full advantage. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Americans have filed over half a million COVID-19 fraud reports and lost over $480 million.

Not all parts of the country have been equally affected. Some states have much higher fraud rates and losses than others. The most common types of fraud also vary from state to state.

Keep reading to learn exactly what COVID-19 fraud is and to find out the latest numbers in every state.

Editor's note: the FTC statistics mentioned here cover COVID and stimulus fraud starting on January 1, 2020.

Key findings

  • As of July 14, 2021, Americans have reported over 500,000 cases of COVID-19 fraud and losses of over $480 million.
  • California has the most COVID-19 fraud losses with over $65 million.
  • Consumers in Vermont have the lowest total COVID-19 fraud losses ($381,000) but the highest median fraud loss ($577).
  • COVID-19 identity theft has been more prevalent in certain states, including Kansas, Hawaii, Montana, and Arkansas.
  • Rhode Island has a much higher than average rate of COVID-19 fraud (96 reports per 10,000 people) than other states.
  • Although consumers ages 30–39 reported the most cases of fraud, those 60–69 lost the most money.
  • Credit cards are the most common payment method for COVID-19 fraud victims who lose money, but far more money is lost via bank transfers and money wires.

What is COVID-19 fraud?

COVID-19 fraud is any type of scam, fraud, or identity theft related to the novel coronavirus.

Technically speaking, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) classifies a report as COVID-19 fraud or identity theft if a consumer mentions specific terms in said report, such as "COVID" or "stimulus."

Scammers have used a variety of tactics during the pandemic. Here are a few examples:

  • Websites selling at-home COVID-19 vaccinations
  • Stimulus payments stolen through identity theft
  • Vaccination surveys promising a free reward if you provide your payment information for a small shipping and handling fee
  • Offers for phony at-home COVID-19 testing kits (these were common when tests were in short supply, but there are now legitimate at-home tests available)
  • Robocalls offering scam services, such as inexpensive health insurance or work-from-home jobs
  • Sales of personal protective equipment (PPE) with delivery dates the seller knows they can't meet

The rise of medical treatment scams

A specific category of healthcare fraud has increased dramatically during the pandemic: medical treatment and cures. Reports for this type of fraud exploded over the second half of 2020.

A line graph showing medical treatment scams reported by quarter, starting at 96 in the first quarter of 2019 and rising to 6,395 in the first quarter of 2021.

COVID-19 fraud by state

As of July 14, 2021, the FTC has recorded over 540,000 reports of COVID-19 and stimulus fraud. Total fraud losses are over $480 million.

Here are the total fraud losses and reports by state:

State/territory Total COVID-19 fraud losses COVID-19 fraud reports
California $67,480,000 48,913
Texas $31,080,000 40,574
New York $30,800,000 48,424
Florida $28,410,000 31,827
Pennsylvania $25,650,000 21,961
Illinois $16,380,000 21,258
New Jersey $13,360,000 14,861
Washington $12,580,000 13,045
Georgia $11,930,000 14,166
Ohio $10,890,000 23,882
North Carolina $10,700,000 12,554
Virginia $10,530,000 11,167
Arizona $9,980,000 11,687
Michigan $8,740,000 12,184
Colorado $8,510,000 13,539
Massachusetts $8,280,000 17,665
Maryland $7,310,000 12,203
Nevada $6,370,000 7,591
Minnesota $6,340,000 5,780
Wisconsin $5,470,000 6,246
Tennessee $5,380,000 7,078
Oregon $5,030,000 5,901
Connecticut $4,300,000 5,152
Missouri $4,180,000 6,693
South Carolina $3,990,000 6,169
Alabama $3,490,000 6,149
Oklahoma $3,380,000 4,094
Utah $3,350,000 3,075
New Mexico $2,880,000 2,647
Indiana $2,760,000 6,562
Kentucky $2,660,000 7,630
Mississippi $2,600,000 2,591
Louisiana $2,090,000 4,826
Hawaii $2,010,000 2,524
Kansas $1,880,000 5,719
Nebraska $1,740,000 1,472
Maine $1,640,000 2,899
Iowa $1,600,000 2,358
Puerto Rico $1,460,000 606
Arkansas $1,380,000 3,134
Delaware $1,370,000 2,060
District of Columbia $1,330,000 1,645
West Virginia $1,160,000 2,100
Rhode Island $1,120,000 10,566
New Hampshire $1,080,000 1,690
Idaho $1,040,000 1,699
South Dakota $974,000 510
Alaska $765,000 675
Montana $731,000 1,212
North Dakota $499,000 582
Wyoming $468,000 424
Vermont $381,000 786
Data source: Federal Trade Commission (2021).

As expected, there's a strong correlation between population sizes, fraud reports, and total fraud losses. States with larger populations tend to have more COVID-19 fraud reports and greater total losses.

There are some outliers. New York and California have similar numbers of fraud reports, even though California has almost twice as many people. And despite nearly the same number of fraud reports, California's total fraud losses are more than double New York's.

It might seem strange that two states can have nearly the same number of fraud reports but such a massive difference in total fraud losses. There are two reasons for this:

  • Median fraud losses were much higher in certain states.
  • Not every fraud report includes a loss. Some states had much higher loss rates than others.

Now, let's look at those median losses and the loss rate per state.

Median COVID-19 fraud loss by state

The median COVID-19 fraud loss across the United States is $366. Here are the numbers for each state:

State/territory Median COVID-19 fraud loss
Vermont $577
Alaska $540
Wyoming $498
Pennsylvania $480
Puerto Rico $476
New Hampshire $476
Nevada $450
District of Columbia $438
Washington $420
North Dakota $420
California $419
Massachusetts $412
Arkansas $400
Delaware $400
Georgia $386
Florida $384
New Jersey $383
Wisconsin $377
Rhode Island $377
Colorado $374
Hawaii $360
Texas $357
Virginia $355
New York $350
North Carolina $350
Montana $346
Iowa $337
Minnesota $335
South Dakota $335
Arizona $325
Maryland $324
Connecticut $322
Tennessee $311
Kentucky $311
Oregon $302
Illinois $300
New Mexico $300
Louisiana $300
Maine $300
Missouri $295
Indiana $294
Alabama $289
Ohio $285
Michigan $280
South Carolina $273
Utah $268
Oklahoma $255
Kansas $250
Idaho $238
Nebraska $225
Mississippi $150
West Virginia $150
Data source: Federal Trade Commission.

Vermont may be the state with the lowest overall fraud losses, but when residents do lose money, they lose big.

On the other end of the scale, West Virginia and Mississippi both had very low median loss numbers of $150.

COVID-19 fraud loss rate by state

Of the more than 540,000 COVID-19 fraud reports filed, 35.8% indicated a loss. The other 64.2% involved fraud cases where the victim didn't lose any money.

Here are the percentages for each individual state:

State/territory Percentage of fraud reports with a loss
Puerto Rico 54.6%
California 51.4%
Wisconsin 51.4%
South Dakota 49.7%
Wyoming 48.7%
District of Columbia 45.5%
Connecticut 45.4%
Mississippi 45.2%
Hawaii 45.1%
Virginia 45.0%
Idaho 43.9%
Pennsylvania 43.8%
Georgia 43.7%
South Carolina 43.6%
Tennessee 43.1%
New Jersey 43%
North Dakota 42.6%
Florida 42.4%
North Carolina 42.3%
Oregon 42.2%
Arkansas 41.7%
Montana 41.6%
Utah 41.4%
Indiana 40.9%
Missouri 40.8%
Nebraska 40.8%
Arizona 40.4%
Washington 40%
Louisiana 39.6%
Oklahoma 39.6%
New Hampshire 39%
Minnesota 38.7%
Michigan 38.4%
Alaska 37.9%
Iowa 37.2%
West Virginia 35.3%
Vermont 33.8%
Illinois 33.3%
New Mexico 32.7%
Kansas 31.5%
Nevada 30.8%
Texas 29.4%
Maryland 29.4%
Delaware 27.1%
Alabama 26%
Massachusetts 24.4%
New York 24.4%
Maine 23.7%
Colorado 23.1%
Kentucky 19.1%
Ohio 18.5%
Rhode Island 4.1%
Data source: Federal Trade Commission (2021).

Once again, there's a massive difference between the areas at the top and bottom. Fraud victims in several states were over 10 times as likely to lose money as those in Rhode Island.

This also helps explain why California has such high fraud losses. Along with the second-highest number of fraud reports, it also has one of the highest loss rates at 51.4%.

COVID-19 identity theft by state

Some states had higher rates of identity theft as a percentage of overall COVID-19 fraud reports:

State/territory COVID-10 identity theft rate Overall COVID-19 fraud reports COVID-19 identity theft reports
Kansas 53.31% 5,719 3,049
Hawaii 39.46% 2,524 996
Montana 33.99% 1,212 412
Arkansas 32.96% 3,134 1,033
Arizona 26.37% 11,687 3,082
Oklahoma 25.92% 4,094 1,061
Mississippi 25.24% 2,591 654
Louisiana 21.14% 4,826 1,020
Washington 20.71% 13,045 2,702
Massachusetts 19.99% 17,665 3,532
Illinois 19.30% 21,258 4,102
West Virginia 17.95% 2,100 377
Maine 17.94% 2,899 520
Indiana 17.02% 6,562 1,117
North Dakota 16.49% 582 96
Alabama 16.23% 6,149 998
Tennessee 15.50% 7,078 1,097
Georgia 15.07% 14,166 2,135
Nevada 14.81% 7,591 1,124
Missouri 14.63% 6,693 979
Michigan 13.79% 12,184 1,680
New Mexico 13.64% 2,647 361
South Carolina 12.87% 6,169 794
Iowa 12.72% 2,358 300
Rhode Island 12.32% 10,566 1,302
Wyoming 12.26% 424 52
South Dakota 12.16% 510 62
Alaska 12.15% 675 82
California 11.84% 48,913 5,791
North Carolina 10.96% 12,554 1,376
Florida 10.86% 31,827 3,457
Pennsylvania 10.69% 21,961 2,347
Oregon 10.47% 5,901 618
Kentucky 10.47% 7,630 799
Texas 10.44% 40,574 4,234
Nebraska 10.33% 1,472 152
Idaho 9.59% 1,699 163
Colorado 9.28% 13,539 1,256
Puerto Rico 8.91% 606 54
Ohio 8.81% 23,882 2,103
New York 8.76% 48,424 4,242
Minnesota 8.58% 5,780 496
Utah 8.20% 3,075 252
Wisconsin 8.17% 6,246 510
Virginia 8.03% 11,167 897
District of Columbia 7.96% 1,645 131
New Hampshire 6.98% 1,690 118
Connecticut 6.75% 5,152 348
New Jersey 6.56% 14,861 975
Maryland 6.44% 12,203 786
Vermont 5.98% 786 47
Delaware 5.39% 2,060 111
Data source: Federal Trade Commission (2021).

Fraud reports by population

As a whole, the United States has had 16.4 COVID-19 fraud reports per 10,000 people. This varies quite a bit by state, and there are a few states with especially high or low rates.

State/territory Fraud reports per 10,000
Rhode Island 96.28
Massachusetts 25.13
Nevada 24.45
New York 23.97
District of Columbia 23.86
Colorado 23.45
Maine 21.28
Delaware 20.81
Ohio 20.24
Maryland 19.75
Kansas 19.47
Hawaii 17.34
Kentucky 16.93
Washington 16.93
Pennsylvania 16.89
Illinois 16.59
Arizona 16.34
New Jersey 16.00
Florida 14.78
Connecticut 14.29
Oregon 13.93
Texas 13.92
Georgia 13.22
Virginia 12.94
New Mexico 12.50
California 12.37
New Hampshire 12.27
Alabama 12.24
Vermont 12.22
Michigan 12.09
South Carolina 12.05
North Carolina 12.03
West Virginia 11.71
Montana 11.18
Missouri 10.87
Wisconsin 10.60
Arkansas 10.41
Louisiana 10.36
Oklahoma 10.34
Tennessee 10.24
Minnesota 10.13
Indiana 9.67
Utah 9.40
Idaho 9.24
Alaska 9.20
Mississippi 8.75
Nebraska 7.50
North Dakota 7.47
Iowa 7.39
Wyoming 7.35
South Dakota 5.75
Puerto Rico 1.84
Data source: Federal Trade Commission (2021). Population estimates are from the U.S. Census Bureau, April 2020.

COVID-19 fraud by age

Age COVID-19 fraud reports Total COVID-19 fraud losses
19 and under 2,970 $4,200,000
20 to 29 14,753 $27,500,000
30 to 39 19,623 $55,100,000
40 to 49 18,105 $57,500,000
50 to 59 16,557 $70,300,000
60 to 69 15,320 $89,300,000
70 to 79 6,174 $25,100,000
80 and over 1,578 $6,800,000
Data source: Federal Trade Commission (2021).

Consumers between the ages of 30 and 39 recorded the most COVID-19 fraud reports, but those in the 60-to-69 age range had the highest total losses.

Although the 80-and-over group had the lowest number of reports, they had the highest median loss at $1,000.

COVID-19 fraud by contact method

26.2% of the fraud reports received by the FTC included a contact method.

Contact method COVID-19 fraud reports Total COVID-19 fraud losses
Email 17,100 $39,090,000
Website or apps 15,656 $44,530,000
Other 14,090 $58,220,000
Text 13,847 $10,340,000
Phone call 13,018 $33,840,000
Social media 8,958 $33,370,000
Mail 1,846 $4,260,000
Online ad or pop-up 1,092 $3,520,000
Data source: Federal Trade Commission (2021).

Email was the most commonly reported contact method for COVID-19 fraud, but it's the mysterious "other" category that led to the most losses.

COVID-19 fraud by payment method

37.1% of the fraud reports received by the FTC included a payment method.

Payment method Fraud reports Total fraud losses
Credit cards 15,908 $29,340,000.00
Debit cards 8,663 $13,740,000.00
Payment app or service 6,818 $11,820,000.00
Wire transfer 3,089 $34,660,000.00
Gift card or reload card 3,030 $8,890,000.00
Bank transfer or payment 2,067 $44,480,000.00
Cash 1,485 $17,030,000.00
Cryptocurrency 1,184 $22,610,000.00
Check 828 $10,820,000.00
Money order 254 $2,660,000.00
Other 73 $80,000.00
Data source: Federal Trade Commission (2021).

Credit cards were the most common payment method used, which makes sense when you consider that they're one of the most convenient ways to pay.

Bank transfers and money wires resulted in the most losses, because consumers lost more on average with those two methods. It's harder to recover money transferred between bank accounts, and it's nearly impossible to get a refund on a wire transfer that has been picked up.

How to protect yourself from COVID-19 fraud

Now that you've seen the numbers on COVID-19 fraud, how can you avoid it? Here are several tips that can help:

  • Don't purchase a COVID-19 vaccine, as this is a popular scam. You can only get vaccinated at federal- and state-approved locations.
  • Watch out for COVID-19 vaccine surveys. These claim to offer a free reward if you pay a small shipping and handling fee. If you do, then the scammer has your payment information and can make fraudulent charges.
  • If you get any robocalls (calls that start with pre-recorded messages), hang up. Criminals use calls like this to obtain your information and potentially steal your money.
  • For a stolen stimulus payment, or if you suspect your stimulus was stolen, file a report at IdentityTheft.gov. Your report will be sent to both the IRS and the FTC. You can also call the IRS, although there may be long wait times.
  • Avoid sending money unless you're absolutely certain you're dealing with a reputable business. Don't wire money, because this type of transaction is typically impossible to reverse after the money is picked up, making it a favorite of scammers.

You can stay up to date with the latest COVID-19 scams on the FTC's coronavirus advice page.

Fraud numbers are dropping

The good news about COVID-19 fraud is that we may be on the downswing. While March and April of this year had some of the highest fraud report totals, that was followed by a sharp decline. As life gradually gets back to normal, COVID-19 will likely lose popularity with scammers.

Sources

  1. Federal Trade Commission (2021). "COVID-19 and Stimulus Reports."
  2. Federal Trade Commission (2021). "The Big View: All Sentinel Reports."
  3. United States Census Bureau (2021). "The 2020 Census: Our Growing Nation."

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