Ohio AG launches site to report scams

June 4, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS

The state attorney general’s office launched a new campaign Friday aimed at drawing attention to scam artists and their efforts to rip people off.

Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine said the hope is to raise awareness and prevent residents from becoming victims in the first place.

“It’s easy to let your guard down,” DeWine told reporters during a morning news conference. “That’s what con artists are counting on. But knowledge and vigilance can help stop scammers in their tracks.”

The $2 million campaign, covered by settlement payments to the attorney general’s office, will pay for ads and a new website – www.ohioprotects.org – through which residents can research businesses, file complaints and learn about scams.

The site includes videos drawing attention to several frequent scams – contractors who take customers’ money but never complete promised repair projects, callers who try to trick residents into giving out computer passwords and personal information, and people masquerading as Internal Revenue Service agents and threatening prison terms unless immediate payments are made.

The attorney general’s office receives more than 27,000 consumer complaints annually from residents who have faced such scams. In recent years, the office also worked to convict more than 100 people and filed dozens of lawsuits against those who have scammed Ohioans.

But thousands of other residents have been the victim of scams, many of whom were unable to recover their money.

“We want to help Ohioans be more aware of how scams are often not all that obvious at first and to give them tools to find out more information about how the Ohio Attorney General’s Office can help,” DeWine said.

Representatives of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, AARP and the Better Business Bureau all voiced support for the attorney general’s efforts.