Kansas has ranked fifth on a list of U.S. states with the highest average investment fraud loss per victim, with Kansans losing $156,790 per incident last year.
In a new study, Carlson Law, an investment fraud law firm, analyzed FBI and FTC data for all 50 states and D.C., including the total number of victims and monetary losses, highest average losses per victim, and highest rates of investment fraud.
The research found that while smaller states such as Kansas have lower monetary losses in total due to their population, the individual victims in these smaller states tend to lose more money on average.
The 10 states with the highest average losses per victim ranked:
- New Hampshire, $204,447
- California, $176,463
- Nebraska, $163,565
- Wyoming, $161,472
- Kansas, $156,790
- Kentucky, $151,253
- Montana, $149,920
- Oregon, $144,386
- Arizona, $143,829
- South Dakota, $142,691
In total, 119 victims in Kansas lost a total of $18.6 million in 2022 — landing the state 30th overall ranked by money lost and number of victims.
Residents in California, Florida, Texas, New York and New Jersey lost the most money to investment fraud last year, according to the report.
Kansas had the No. 33 highest rate of investment fraud, meanwhile, with 4.1 complaints filed per 100,000 residents.
The first study on the State of Investment Fraud in 2023 found investment fraud has become the No. 1 costliest type of fraud in the U.S., with a record $3.82 billion stolen in 2022, up from $1.6 billion the previous year. That's due to the in rise crypto-investment scams, traditional methods such as Ponzi and pyramid schemes, and artificial intelligence deep-fake videos and voice cloning.
