Credit rating firm Experian recently published a list of the top 100 riskiest shipping ZIP codes for 2017. In the list, U.S. ZIP codes were rated on the number of attempted fraudulent e-commerce transactions against the population of overall e-commerce orders for the ZIP codes.
Experian’s analysis of fraudulent transactions says international IP addresses affect the overall riskiness of a transaction. e-Commerce transactions from international IP addresses are much riskier than average—6.7x riskier from a shipping perspective. Additionally, Experian’s analysis shows that traffic coming from a proxy server—which could originate from domestic and international IP addresses — is 74 times riskier
then the average transaction.
The riskiest ZIP code for e-commerce fraud in 2017 was 97079 in Beaverton, Oregon according to Experian. In fact, Oregon had nearly half of the top 25 riskiest ZIP codes in 2017. The areas in and around Portland OR occupied 10 of the top 25 spots for riskiest e-commerce transactions. Beaverton’s highest risk international IP county is China.
The Miami Florida area put the sunshine state at #2 in the top 25 with nearly a quarter of the riskiest ZIP codes. Miami had 6 of the top 25 slots for the next most risky ZIP Codes for e-commerce firms. The riskiest Miami ZIP code is 33122. Miami’s highest risk international IP county is Venezuela.
South El Monte, California ZIP code 91733 is the third riskiest ZIP code on the Experian list for e-commerce firms to ship to. Experian says that 91733’s highest risk international IP countries are Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The riskiest Michigan ZIP code is 48204 in Detroit, which ranked 32nd on the list and is only 15% of the risk of Beaverton OR.
Other Michigan ZIP Codes on the top 100 list are:
| Rank | City | State | Zip Code | Fraud Attack Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64 | Detroit | MI | 48227 | 276.6 |
| 68 | Detroit | MI | 48206 | 270.3 |
| 74 | Detroit | MI | 48228 | 262.4 |
The top 25 riskiest ZIP Codes according to Experian. Fraud attack rates show the attempted fraudulent e-commerce transactions against the population of overall e-commerce orders.
| Rank | City | State | Zip Code | Fraud attack rates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beaverton | OR | 97079 | 2741.9 |
| 2 | Miami | FL | 33122 | 1935.1 |
| 3 | South El Monte | CA | 91733 | 1473.5 |
| 4 | Portland | OR | 97251 | 1257.6 |
| 5 | Portland | OR | 97250 | 1178.6 |
| 6 | Miami | FL | 33166 | 1155.1 |
| 7 | Portland | OR | 97252 | 1059.4 |
| 8 | Miami | FL | 33198 | 1010.6 |
| 9 | Miami | FL | 33195 | 921.7 |
| 10 | Miami | FL | 33192 | 769.1 |
| 11 | Portland | OR | 97253 | 726.2 |
| 12 | Portland | OR | 97230 | 676 |
| 13 | Portland | OR | 97217 | 635.8 |
| 14 | Minden | NV | 89423 | 629.2 |
| 15 | Houston | TX | 77072 | 625.4 |
| 16 | Portland | OR | 97233 | 623.4 |
| 17 | Wilmington | DE | 19801 | 584.6 |
| 18 | Portland | OR | 97218 | 562.1 |
| 19 | Des Moines | IA | 50314 | 544.1 |
| 20 | Chicago | IL | 60621 | 539.8 |
| 21 | Portland | OR | 97203 | 535.6 |
| 22 | Miami | FL | 33191 | 518.7 |
| 23 | Hillsboro | OR | 97124 | 505.3 |
| 24 | Portland | OR | 97254 | 502.5 |
| 25 | Manchester | NH | 3101 | 490.4 |
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The increase in e-commerce fraud attacks should not surprise anyone. The growth of online information and the continuing tsunami of data breaches has put over 9.7 billion data records on the dark web. The plethora of stolen PII enables criminals to open fraudulent accounts, take over legitimate accounts and submit fraudulent transactions.
Another reason for the increase in online fraud activity is automation. In the past, criminals needed to do something, but they can now attack by simply downloading a file and automating the submission of thousands of applications or transactions
simultaneously.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.