Most likely to be scammed: BBB data shows towns most targeted

An analysis of data from the Better Business Bureau shows which zip codes in the Triangle area are most frequently reporting scams, and which communities stand to outpace their numbers over the last two years. 

WRAL analyzed scam report data for Wake, Durham and Orange counties to capture a representation of the Triangle. In total, 1,017 people reported some kind of scam in 2025. North Carolina's most prevalent scam type is online shopping, followed by phishing attempts. 

WRAL looked through scam tracker data reported to the BBB, searching for victim locations within zip codes around Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. 

In northern Wake County, 27587 — which covers Wake Forest and the surrounding areas between Falls Lake and Rolesville -- registered the most scam reports at 45 last year. Just six months into 2026 though, it's recorded 35 scams, ten shy of its total output for 2025. 

Matt Clements, one of those victims, lost $1,350 from a garage repairman who he says ghosted him after being paid for repairs that broke almost immediately. Clements told WRAL there were several red flags that he brushed aside through the process. Another contractor later told him he had been scammed by someone up-charging exorbitant prices for what should have been a simple fix. 

Clements later found the phone number he used to hire the man in other local Facebook groups across the country. In each, he says, the person was passing themself off as a neighborhood company within that respective community. 

“I think what surprised me the most was how easily I could’ve avoided it if I just paid attention to my own intuition. Nothing to do with considering myself a smart person," Clements said.

Here are the zip codes that reported the greatest number of scams in 2025. 

1. 27587: Wake Forest
2. 27703: East Durham (Oak Grove neighborhood)
3. 27502 and 27707: Apex and southwest Durham
4. 27526: Fuquay-Varina
5. 27616: Northeast Raleigh

Six months into 2026, the Triangle is on pace to see a higher number of scam reports compared to 2025. Many areas, like in Cary and Clayton, have seen a greater number of scams reported through six months of 2026 than for all of 2025.

Scams were reported 1,027 times in 2025 across the Triangle, while that numbers is at 825 for the first six months of 2026. 

This May, the BBB Scam Tracker feature brought back its heat map feature that allows consumers to monitor and view state level fraud and scams in real time.

They cite some of the benefits of the real-time reporting as being:

• Seeing trends as they're developing
• Scam awareness becomes local and relevant
• People become more likely to recognize warning signs
• Answers the question, 'What's happening where I live right now?