Security experts: Take steps to prevent fraud, scams Carroll County Times
The state ranked second per capita in reports of fraud such as debt collection and credit card and sweepstakes scams, and ninth in identity theft complaints, according to the FTC statistics.
Maryland reported 23,581 incidents of fraud and 4,784 incidents of identity theft in 2010, according to the numbers.
The state usually ranks around 10th nationally in identity theft complaints, said Hugh Williams, the administrator of the Maryland Attorney General's Office's Identity Theft Program.
And the depth of the problem likely runs deeper.
The FTC numbers are only from people who report identity theft to them, which means likely many more people are being victimized, Williams said.
There's no real reason why numbers in some areas of the country are higher than in others, said Mike Prusinski, a spokesman for LifeLock, an Arizona-based identity theft prevention company.
He agreed the numbers would likely be much higher if everyone filed a report with the trade commission, but said many people may have been victimized by friends or family and are less likely to make a complaint.
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