LendingTree® is out Wednesday with a study on where people are most likely to have asked a credit bureau to place a fraud alert on their credit report.
Key findings of the study:
- The average rate of fraud alert requests among all cities reviewed is 6.4%.
- Las Vegas and Houston tie for the highest rate of fraud alerts, at 13.6%.
- Miami and New York are close behind, tied at 12.9%.
- Rochester, N.Y. has the lowest rate of people requesting fraud alerts at 2%. Nearby Buffalo, N.Y. has 2.6%.
Big cities lead the pack
1 (tie) – Las Vegas
My LendingTree users with fraud alerts: 13.6%
1 (tie) – Houston
My LendingTree users with fraud alerts: 13.6%
3 (tie) – Miami
My LendingTree users with fraud alerts: 12.9%
3 (tie) – New York
My LendingTree users with fraud alerts: 12.9%
5 – San Jose, Calif.
My LendingTree users with fraud alerts: 11.8%
Rust Belt and Missouri cities have the fewest alerts
50 – Rochester, N.Y.
My LendingTree users with fraud alerts: 2%
49 – Buffalo, N.Y.
My LendingTree users with fraud alerts: 2.6%
47 (tie) – St. Louis
My LendingTree users with fraud alerts: 2.8%
47 (tie) – Pittsburgh
My LendingTree users with fraud alerts: 2.8%
With millions of Americans affected by data breaches every year, such as recent revelations at Uber and Equifax, LendingTree decided to look at anonymized data from a sample of the over 7 million My LendingTree users to see where people are most likely to have asked a credit bureau to place a fraud alert on their credit report. My LendingTree, available online and at app stores, offers free credit monitoring that includes alerts within 30 minutes of activity on your credit report.
| Rate of Fraud Alerts on Credit Reports | ||
| Rank | Metro | % of My LendingTree Users With Fraud Alerts |
| 1 | Houston | 13.6% |
| 1 | Las Vegas | 13.6% |
| 3 | Miami | 12.9% |
| 3 | New York | 12.9% |
| 5 | San Jose, Calif. | 11.8% |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 11.3% |
| 7 | San Francisco | 10.4% |
| 8 | Atlanta | 9.8% |
| 9 | Dallas | 9.6% |
| 9 | Phoenix | 9.6% |
| 11 | Jacksonville, Fla. | 9.1% |
| 12 | Seattle | 8.4% |
| 13 | Riverside, Calif. | 8.0% |
| 14 | San Diego | 7.7% |
| 15 | Chicago | 7.6% |
| 15 | Washington | 7.6% |
| 17 | Austin, Texas | 7.5% |
| 18 | Tucson, Ariz. | 7.3% |
| 19 | Salt Lake City | 7.0% |
| 20 | Sacramento, Calif. | 6.7% |
| 21 | Philadelphia | 6.6% |
| 22 | Orlando, Fla. | 6.5% |
| 22 | San Antonio | 6.5% |
| 24 | Denver | 6.2% |
| 25 | Portland, Ore. | 6.1% |
| 26 | New Orleans | 5.8% |
| 27 | Minneapolis | 5.5% |
| 27 | Tampa, Fla. | 5.5% |
| 29 | Detroit | 4.7% |
| 29 | Nashville, Tenn. | 4.7% |
| 31 | Raleigh, N.C. | 4.5% |
| 32 | Memphis, Tenn. | 4.4% |
| 33 | Charlotte, N.C. | 4.3% |
| 34 | Birmingham, Ala. | 4.1% |
| 35 | Baltimore | 4.0% |
| 36 | Louisville, Ky. | 3.9% |
| 36 | Oklahoma City | 3.9% |
| 38 | Virginia Beach, Va. | 3.7% |
| 39 | Cleveland | 3.5% |
| 39 | Columbus, Ohio | 3.5% |
| 41 | Indianapolis | 3.3% |
| 41 | Milwaukee | 3.3% |
| 43 | Grand Rapids, Mich. | 3.1% |
| 43 | Richmond, Va. | 3.1% |
| 45 | Cincinnati | 3.0% |
| 45 | Kansas City, Mo. | 3.0% |
| 47 | Pittsburgh | 2.8% |
| 47 | St. Louis | 2.8% |
| 49 | Buffalo, N.Y. | 2.6% |
| 50 | Rochester, N.Y. | 2.0% |
| Note: For the three month period ending 1/31/18. |