Nevada Named Most Deceitful US State in Questionable Report

Posted on: January 29, 2026, 11:17h. 

Last updated on: January 29, 2026, 12:34h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Vegas Myths Busted.

A new report published by The New York Post claims that Nevada is America’s most deceitful state, leading the nation in lying, cheating, and creative paperwork. This is, of course, an indictment of Las Vegas, where more than 70% of Nevada’s 3.27 million residents live.

AI renders a photo of a lying Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. (Image: Microsoft CoPilot)

The tabloid’s story says it relied on data tallying up multiple flavors of modern dishonesty: fraud reports, romance scams, identity theft, fake doctor’s notes, fake IDs, and Google searches for Ashley Madison, the notorious cheating site that refuses to die no matter how many data breaches try to kill it.

“There’s a reason they say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” the Post wrote.

According to the report, other states excelled in individual categories. Florida was No. 1 in fraud, with over 2,100 reports per 100K residents. Arizona led the nation in romance scams, with $53.7 million lost in 2024.

But Nevada took the overall dishonesty cake. According to the Post, 1 in 5 Nevada residents surveyed “admits to frequent fibbing.” (Hmm, do liars tell the truth about lying?)

Worst-Case Scenario

Las Vegas resident Aurora Phelps allegedly committed bank fraud, ID theft, and a kidnapping that resulted in death. (Image: FBI)

To back up its case, the Post cited a “romance scam on steroids” in which a female Las Vegas resident allegedly lured older men via dating websites, drugged them, and emptied their bank accounts.

In this case, uncovered by the FBI in February 2025, Aurora Phelps, 43, faces life in prison if convicted on bank fraud, ID theft, and one count of kidnapping resulting in death.

However, this case was unrelated to the data compiled for the Post’s report. That data came solely from “researchers at online tarot reading site Tarotoo,” according to the newspaper.

In addition, no such study or survey is mentioned anywhere on Tarotoo.com — or anywhere else on the internet other than in The New York Post story.

Could The New York Post itself have been taken in by a scam?

Nah, impossible. Tarot card reading websites are renowned for their honesty. Except probably the ones based in Nevada.

And Tarotoo.com is based in Ukraine.