How Florida Cybercrime Losses Compare

Cybercrime victims in Florida lost $874.7 million in 2023, ranking 3rd in the nation, FBI data performances.

With rapidly evolving technologies, near-ubiquitous use of the Internet, and increasingly clever scams, cybercrime is on the rise—and Americans, in particular, are being scammed out of billions. In 2023, hundreds of thousands more cybercrimes were reported in the US than the other 19 countries combined.

hydrated analyzed the state of cybercrime in Florida as part aa broader national analysisUSING FBI2023 Internet Crime Report.

FBI data shows that cybercrime will cost Americans $12.5 billion in 2023 — a figure that has been rising annually for at least five years. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3, received a record 880,000 complaints in 2023, with victims reporting losses of more than $14,000 on average. Notably, cybercrime is vastly underreported, making the FBI’s data—which only includes reported crimes—terribly incomplete.

Florida residents reported 41,061 cybercrimes in 2023, amounting to approximately 182 cybercrime victims per million people. On average, these victims reported losses of $21,303.

Total losses amounted to $39 per resident in Florida, ranking 10th in the nation.

Cybercrime affects people of all ages from all parts of the country. Almost 1 in 3 Americans has been a victim of online financial fraud or cybercrime, according to a 2023 Ipsos survey from Wells Fargo. Earlier this year, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency published draft rules for reporting cyberattacks among critical infrastructure institutions, which would require reporting of substantial attacks and paid ransoms. In the future, these guidelines will allow for more comprehensive data collection, at least among major entities. Even so, the current numbers make it clear that some Americans are more vulnerable to scams than others.

Americans over 60 reported the highest number of complaints and volume of losses in 2023. They bore the brunt of an escalation in ghost hacker scamswhere attackers impersonate IT, banking/investment personnel and government officials to establish the authority and trust of victims. About half of those who filed related claims were 60 or older and suffered losses of more than $770 million.

However, increasingly sophisticated scams increase the risks for younger and more tech-savvy populations. Of the $2.2 billion increase in cybercrime losses from 2022-2023, more than half was due to an increase in cryptocurrency scams. Crypto scams comprise the majority of digital investment fraud, a category that affects the 30+ age group relatively equally.

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National Aspect: Big losses in technology and political centers

In the US, the politics, technology and gambling hubs saw particularly heavy losses. In the nation’s capital, cybercrime victims lost more than $46 million to scams, nearly doubling the national per capita loss. Residents of California and Nevada also reported heavy losses.

As the nation’s capital, Washington DC is an obvious target for cybercriminals. Government facilities were among the biggest critical infrastructure targets for ransomware attacks in 2023. DC experimented several major data breachesincluding leaks of voter records and personal information of senior national security officials. There were also attacks launched against political action committees, threats to campaign financiers, lobbyists and donors.

California’s high-tech culture makes it another clear target for cybercriminals. Californians from Silicon Valley to Los Angeles were some of the first to be affected by the growing crypto fraud. This included more advanced cons, where scammers build relationships with people through dating apps, social media, networking sites and other means, then convince them to invest in cryptocurrencies through fake websites and apps.

The California state government has already taken some steps, limiting withdrawals from bitcoin ATMs after a string of scams that used them. In May, the FBI San Francisco Division released a note warning about AI-based cybercrime such as automated and highly targeted phishing campaigns and advanced voice and video impersonation of friends, family and colleagues.

As cybercrimes become more advanced, they also wreak havoc on entire systems or disrupt businesses. In neighboring Nevada, Las Vegas — a center of glitzy business and nonstop spending — also faced major attacks last year. Two of the city’s biggest casino and hotel operators were targeted in attacks that forced one to shut down its casino, hotel and key systems and the other to pay about $15 million to prevent the leak of his data. In January, the Nevada Gaming Control Board was also hacked.

Although many people and institutions lost money to scams last year, timely reporting and enforcement prevented further losses. The FBI has helped freeze victims’ funds in thousands of incidents and prevented about 71 percent of the losses in those cases. Even in cases where victims’ funds have already been stolen, loss reporting helps the FBI investigate and connect crime strings, identify and alert the public to emerging scams, and track down cybercriminals.

This story features data reporting and writing by Paxtyn Merten and is part of a series using data automation in the 50 states and Washington DC

This story originally appeared on Drata and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.