Protect Yourself: Coloradans Are Easy Targets and Get Scammed A Lot!

Security is top of mind for many Americans, but the numbers say that people in Colorado aren't the best at securing important information.

According to a report from Wallethub, Colorado ranked second in the U.S. when it came to states with the most identity theft and fraud.

The only state that reports more victims of these scams is Washington.

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Steps Coloradans Need To Take for Protection

Of course, now that this report is available to the public, that could put Coloradans at more risk than before if they don't start taking the proper precautions.

In order to avoid becoming the most vulnerable state on next year's list, Coloradans need to up their security by doing the following things:

• Sign up for credit monitoring
• Protect your email at all costs, it's linked to everything!
• Only give out personal information when it's absolutely necessary
• Frequently update your online accounts

Online Safety for Coloradans

One of the places that Coloradans found themselves most susceptible to fraud and identity theft is on the world wide web.

Colorado actually ranked 3rd when it came to the highest average loss amount due to online identity theft.

"The best way to prevent Cyber Attacks such as identity theft is through education. People need to be on the defense in all activities that involve any internet activity such as email, web, or phone conversations," advises Mario Garcia, Director of Institute of Cybersecurity; Professor of Computer Science – Southeast Missouri State University.

Working the Numbers

Wallethub based their results by looking at 3 key factors.

1. Identity Theft
2. Fraud
3. Policy

From there, things were broken down into 14 other metrics, and then each state was graded on a 100 point scale.