Duh: Study Shows South Florida Is No.1 for Fraud in U.S.

The data also shows that the entire state of Florida (shocker!) secured the top spot for fraud nationwide.

March 19, 2025

Image: An envelope on the floor with a sticky note on top that reads "Scam?"

New data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shows that South Florida ranked No. 1 in the nation last year for fraud. Flickr via Jon Feinstein

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The Miami metro area has officially been named the fraud capital of the United States.

In other news, water is still wet.

Newly released fraud report data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shows that South Florida — which includes Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County — ranked No. 1 in the nation last year for fraud, with roughly 2,800 reports per 100,000 residents.

The data also shows that the entire state of Florida (shocker!) secured the top spot for fraud nationwide, reporting 2,163 cases per 100,000 residents. According to the FTC, Floridians reported losing a whopping $866 million to fraud in 2024.

Scams involving romance, business and government imposters, jobs, and real estate were the most lucrative types of fraud in the state last year, according to the data. Romance scams proved to be the most profitable, draining a whopping $89 million from victims, according to the FTC.

South Florida has become somewhat of a hotbed for these schemes.

Last summer, a North Miami Beach woman was arrested for defrauding several people as part of a long-running romance scam. A federal prosecutor says the woman and her female co-conspirator "callously defrauded elderly victims who were simply looking for companionship."

"As part of the scheme, [the women] lured the victims, who were nearly all elderly individuals, into purported romantic or close personal relationships through in-person meetings, phone calls, text messages, and an online dating platform," reads a federal complaint against the duo.

Earlier this year, another South Florida woman was busted for laundering nearly $3 million on behalf of romance scammers. Between late 2019 and 2023, the 30-year-old woman from Miramar allegedly funneled money from romance scams to a person in Ghana in exchange for a commission.

"Romance scams are a growing threat to Americans, particularly to the elderly and vulnerable," Brian Boynton, head of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Division at the time, said at the time of the arrest.

Alex DeLuca is an intern at Miami New Times. A rising senior at the University of Florida, she’s studying journalism and political science. She previously worked as a reporter and editor at the school’s student newspaper, the Independent Florida Alligator.

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