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Ohio AG warns public of phone scammers
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
The telephone rang at Tom Carskadon’s house about 7 a.m.
The caller, claiming to be from Microsoft, said Carskadon’s computer had been infected and was in need of immediate attention.
Carskadon, who lives in the Columbus area, said his computer had been acting up as of late, so he provided his account information and other details and online access to the caller.
It wasn’t too long thereafter that he realized he had fallen for a common phone scam.
“I didn’t think it could happen to me, and it did,” said Carskadon, who was able to stop payment and undo the damage.
Carskadon isn’t alone.
Last year, Ohioans lost thousands of dollars to scammers posing as grandchildren, government agencies, computer-repair services and others, calling residents out of the blue and gaining their confidence using high-pressure and other tactics.
“No longer do thieves have to put on a bandanna and rob a bank to get cash,” Attorney General Mike DeWine said Tuesday during a morning press conference in Columbus. “It is pick up the phone, tell a very detailed, believable story, and smart Ohioans all over the state fall into their big scam.”
DeWine warned residents of potential phone scams as part of National Consumer Protection Week, which seeks to draw attention to consumer ripoffs.
The attorney general’s office’s consumer-protection section fielded about 28,000 complaints last year from consumers who believed they had been scammed.
About 1,200 of those calls related to phone scams.
DeWine urged Ohioans to beware of callers who request payments via wire transfers or prepaid money cards or other personal information, who pressure residents to make quick decisions or who offer winnings or grants that were not sought.
He also unveiled a checklist, which is available online at www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov, for use by Ohioans to avoid falling victim to scammers.