Ohio attorney general, Craigslist, target online scammers

COLUMBUS — In an effort to shed light on rampant online fraud, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray today announced a partnership with craigslist aimed at holding accountable those who try to defraud Ohioans through the popular classified advertising website.

Cordray and craigslist are optimistic the partnership will help establish best practices to be also followed by other Internet sites, the attorney general said in an e-mailed press release.

"Over the past decade, scammers and predators have migrated criminal activities to the Internet and have scammed consumers out of hundreds of millions of dollars," Cordray said in the release. "Our new partnership with craigslist sends a clear message to online scammers — stay away from targeting Ohioans."

At Cordray's request, craigslist has agreed to place a link on its "scams and frauds" page so Ohioans who are scammed, or users who see an Ohio-based scam, can submit a complaint directly to the attorney general's office.

Through the complaint process, online fraud will be identified and tracked by the office's Financial Cyber Crime Unit. The link is now located on craigslist's "about scams" page at www.craigslist.org/about/scams.

For more information on financial scams or to file a consumer complaint, contact Cordray's office at www.SpeakOutOhio.gov or (800) 282-0515.