Arizonans lose nearly $9 million in cyber crime scams

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The latest FBI report ranks Arizona No. 9 in the nation for internet money losses in 2015.

Arizona ranked No. 9  in the nation for money lost from cybercrimes in 2015, according to a report compiled by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. 

Arizonans lost $8.9 million from  those internet crimes, according to the report. The data for 2015 is the most recent available.

Among the report’s finding:

• Arizona ranked 15th in the nation for number of reports, with 5,770 victims and 2.41 percent of the nation’s internet scam reports. 
• Most of the money lost by Arizona residents, $4.5 million, involved online romance fraud. Those age 60 and above lost a combined $7.1 million, the most of any age group.   
• California finished  No. 1 in money lost, with $98.6 million, followed by Florida ($58 million) and Texas ($38.2 million).
• Arizona fell between New Jersey (No. 8, $10.3 million) and New Hampshire (No. 10, $8.7 million) in total money lost.
• In total, people across the country lost $1.07 billion due to internet crimes, with men aged 50 to 59 losing the most money of any age or gender, $171.9 million.    
• The category that took the biggest online crime hit in the nation involved business wire-transfer payments and businesses working with foreign suppliers. They accounted for $246.2 million.
• Romance fraud accumulated the second-most lost money with $203.4 million.
• Non-payment or non-shipment of online goods accounted for the third-most amount of money lost, with $121.3 million, but involved 67,375 victims, the most of any online scam.