Want to know what scams are happening in your area? Check out this cool map!

When it comes to scams, knowing about them is your best defense. If you’re aware of a scam, you’re much less likely to fall for it. Some scams might even target you based on where you live.

The Consumer Sentinel Network, part of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), has tools that help law enforcement access millions of reports about identity theft, unwanted calls, fraud, and other illegal activities.

One of these tools is an interactive map created with Tableau Public, a data visualization platform. This map shows fraud and identity theft data by state and metro area—and it’s available for everyone to use!

You can view scam activity in your area in five different ways:

  1. All reports by state
  2. Fraud by state
  3. Fraud by metro area
  4. ID theft by state
  5. ID theft by metro area

The “Fraud by State” tab shows the top 10 types of scams for any state you click on. This gives you a big-picture view of scam activity. If you want a closer look, check out the “Fraud by Metro Area” tab. This zooms in on specific metro areas, usually combining a few counties together, so you can see more detailed information.

To see details for a specific area, just click on it on the map. If you want to compare multiple areas, hold Ctrl (or Command on a Mac) and click the areas you want to compare.

The map currently uses data from the fourth quarter of 2022, provided by the FTC, but it gets updated whenever new data is available. You can also view data from previous years and quarters.

The map shows information reported to ReportFraud.ftc.gov about scams, fraud, or bad business practices. Depending on the type of scam, the data might show that people in your area are falling for the same online scam (for example, one run by a scammer overseas) or that a local scammer is targeting people nearby.

Unfortunately, the map doesn’t provide details beyond the frequency and category of scams in each area. However, you can explore specific scams and frauds further by checking out FTC reports.