​ Email Hacks, Romance Scams, More: Multi-Billion-Dollar Data Breache

ACROSS AMERICA — The number of U.S. corporations reporting data breaches from 2017-2021 has decreased, but the amount of money they’re being taken for has dramatically increased, according to a new analysis of FBI internet crime data.

According to Forbes Advisor, the five states with the most corporate data breach victims and the associated financial losses from 2017-2021 were:

1. California: 1,807 breaches, accounting for $81,013,216 in losses.
2. Texas: 1,587 breaches, accounting for $48,592,966 in losses.
3. Florida: 956 breaches, accounting for $57,773,356 in losses.
4. New York: 705 breaches, accounting for $38,611,033 in losses.
5. Illinois: 395 breaches, accounting for $11,872,350 in losses.

The five most expensive data breaches from 2017-2021 were:

1. Email account compromises: 94,610 breaches, accounting for $7,527,098,098 in losses.
2. Confidence or romance fraud: 86,521 breaches, accounting for $2,311,138,731 in losses.
3. Investment data: 26,259 breaches, accounting for $1,717,576,571 in losses.
4. Non-payment/non-delivery (when sellers don’t get paid for items ordered online and consumers who buy online don’t get orders they paid for): 361,972 breaches, accounting for $950,596,596 in losses.
5. Real estate/rental: 55,296 breaches, accounting for $944,761,963 in losses.

The top five types of data breaches from 2017-2021 were:

1. Non-payment/non-delivery: 361,972 breaches, accounting for $950,596,596 in losses.
2. Fake leads with no value: 275,423 breaches, accounting for $252,762 in losses.
3. Extortion: 212,819 breaches, accounting for $322,717,759 in losses.
4. Personal data breach: 202,677 breaches, accounting for $938,506,733 in losses.
5. Identity theft: 139,535 breaches, accounting for $526,526,217 in losses.

The FBI offers tips on protecting your computer, network, and personal information against those scams, as well as ransomware attacks, spoofing and phishing schemes and online predators, who pose a growing threat to young people.

• Related: Romance Scams Cost More Than You May Think

Reports can be made at the Internet Crime Complaint Center, at ic3.gov to more quickly recover lost funds. The FBI also uses the reports for investigative and intelligence purposes.

Businesses and other organizations that are victims of network or data breaches or ransomware attacks should report those incidents to the nearest FBI field office or at tips.fbi.gov.