If you’re worried about identity theft, Connecticut is a great place to live. Connecticut is one of the states where people are least likely to have their identities stolen, according to a recent study from WalletHub.
The study, which looked at all 50 states and Washington D.C., found that Connecticut was the third least-vulnerable state for identity theft, following only Montana and Vermont. And when Connecticut residents have their identities stolen online, they lose less money than people in almost every other state, except for Montana, Vermont, and Hawaii.
On top of this, Connecticut residents are less likely than residents of any other state in the country, and D.C., to be victims of fraud.
“In an age where we have sensitive data online in a multitude of places, we risk falling victim to identity theft and fraud whenever there’s a data breach,” said Chris Lupo, a WalletHub analyst. “Living in a state with robust legal protections against identity theft and fraud, such as identity theft passports and cybersecurity task forces, can decrease your risk of falling victim to these crimes, though staying vigilant and protecting yourself online is still the most important.”
Connecticut statute requires individuals and companies that collect personal information to safeguard the data, computer files, and documents containing that information, and to “destroy, erase or make unreadable such data,” before disposing of it. Parties that fail to do this can be charged a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per violation.
Identity theft itself can be a felony offense in the state, depending on how much money is stolen. If a person steals $10,000 or more from a person under 60 years old, or $5,000 or more from a person who is over 60 years old, that is a Class B Felony. Class B Felonies that do not involve manslaughter with firearms can carry a prison sentence of one to 20 years, and offenders can be fined up to $15,000.
Recently, Attorney General William Tong announced that the state was entering Phase 2 of Operation Robocall Roundup.
The Operation is a multistate effort to stop illegal robocalls across the country. Phase 1, which began in 2022, involved sending warning letters to 37 smaller providers that were suspected of sending illegal robocalls. This first phase resulted in 13 companies being removed from the FCC’s Robocall Mitigation Database, meaning providers can no longer accept their call traffic. Also, 19 companies stopped appearing in any traceback results, which indicates they stopped sending robocalls. Finally, four providers ended high-risk customer accounts associated with illegal traffic.
Phase 2 involves investigating the four largest voice providers in the nation: Inteliquent, Brandwith, Lumen and Peerless.
“Robocalls are an obnoxious nuisance and a prime gateway for scammers. In coordination with attorneys general across the country, we’re escalating our crack down on the fraud facilitators transmitting these illegal robocalls across their networks. Our first phase is already delivering results and blocking bad actors from transmitting calls to the United States,” Tong said in a press release. “If you receive a call or a text from someone you do not recognize, do not answer, do not engage, and report it to us.”
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