Tell me lies: Phoenix ranked among ‘most dishonest’ cities in U.S.

Step outside your front door and take a quick look at your neighbors. Are they trying to get one over on you? A new study suggests that may be the case — at least more so in Phoenix than in most places in the country.

The online casino DuelBits analyzed the 100 biggest U.S. cities according to eight factors — property crime, fraud, divorce, catfishing victims, employee theft risk, and online searches for gaming cheats and affair websites — to create a composite dishonesty score. Phoenix came in ninth with a score of 6.58 out of 10, just ahead of Dallas and just behind Jacksonville. Miami ranked as the most dishonest city in America, with a score of 8.76.

What made Phoenix stand out? Scammers. Per the study, Phoenix ranked second in the country with 9 catfishing victims per 100,000 residents. It also has a fraud rate of 1,400 cases per 100,000 people, ranking sixth. Indeed, Valley residents find themselves combating frequent scam attempts — fake toll road bills, fake speed camera bills, fake sheriff’s deputies, fake immigration lawyers and more. The Arizona Attorney General’s Office sends out frequent scam alerts to try to stay ahead of them.

In other metrics, Phoenix’s divorce rate of 9.79% was the 14th-highest in the country, and its property crime rate of 3,600 per 100,000 people was above average. On the other hand, Phoenix had below-average marks for employee theft risk (1.89%) and spam calls (44 per 100,000 people), though it certainly doesn’t feel below-average in the latter. Phoenix residents also search for gaming cheats at a lower rate than most cities.