MOUNT VERNON – Beth Marti has seen her fair share of scams as detective for Mount Vernon Police Department.
She’s seen hundreds of identity and imposter fraud, online shopping and gift card scams. Fraud cases have increased throughout the years, Marti said, noting the days of mail and telecommunication fraud have now translated to the internet and social media.
The Office of Consumer Affairs within the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Financial Services warns Ohioans to be on the lookout for a variety of common financial scams impacting consumers. Last year, these scams cost Ohioans more than $150 million in losses according to a recent report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The primary types of predatory schemes impacting Ohio consumers fall into three categories: identity theft, imposter fraud and online shopping scams, according to an Ohio Dept. of Commerce news release. The release also states because many of these scams increasingly use social media platforms to identify, target and engage victims, younger Ohioans are considered to be most at risk due to their usage of, and trust in, these sites. Ohio seniors also are particularly vulnerable since they may be targeted due to their more substantial financial holdings.
The release also states the FTC report ranked Ohio 12th in the nation in 2023 for instances of identity theft, which frequently occurs when someone uses personal information to impersonate a victim to steal from them or someone else. Identify theft can be difficult to recognize since scammers can steal one’s identity in person, online or even via phone.
Marti said in her experience it’s rare to track scammers due to some working out of state and country.
In 2023, there was 288 calls for service for fraud and out of those calls 107 reports were filed, according to Mount Vernon Police Department records. From Jan. 1 to March 21, there was 91 calls for service with 20 reports.
Last year the Knox County Sheriff’s Office took 185 fraud reports, Sheriff David Shaffer said, noting at least 65 of those appear to be related to residents having unemployment claims being made in their name.
So far this year we have taken 25 reports and at least 1 was unemployment fraud related, Shaffer said.
“We are continuously warning people that anytime that are directed to pay for something with a gift, or prepaid card it is a scam,” Shaffer said. “Hacked Amazon accounts and fraudulent charges on credit cards are also frequently reported crimes.”
Shaffer said the sheriff’s office encourages people to review their bills and charges and legitimate government agencies do not normally communicate with you by email requesting payments, or to provide personal information.
Imposter scams occur when fraudsters pose as trusted officials or loved ones of a victim, then solicit money and personal information from them.
The convenience of online shopping has been utilized by scam artists to exploit consumer trust through the creation of fake websites or social media accounts to steal consumers’ payment information, according to the commerce release.
How to stay safe
Marti focuses on spreading preventive information to local nursing homes and school, to reduce the number of potential fraud victims.
“You typically start with what’s current as far as the scam, and we just tell ’em basically, like, if it sounds too good to be true on the phone, it probably is,” Marti said. “Cut it off as soon as possible because, you know, the people on the other end of the phone are master manipulators. They do this for a living and they know the right things to say to reel people in. We just tell ’em, ‘Cut it off. ‘”
According to the commerce release, Ohioans are urged to protect themselves by regularly reviewing financial statements and credit reports for any unauthorized transactions or unrecognized accounts, which could indicate identity theft. A free weekly credit report can be obtained through AnnualCreditReport.com.
It’s always important to protect documents containing personal information by blacking them out or shredding them before throwing them away. Consumers also should be sure to use complex and unique passwords for each online account and to change them regularly, according to the release.
“The internet’s great when it’s used for good things. Unfortunately there’s the other side of that,” Marti said.
Finally, Ohioans should always be skeptical of unsolicited communication that requests personal or financial information and should be sure to verify the legitimacy of such requests through official channels before engaging them further, the commerce release states.
For more information on steps consumers can take to protect themselves from fraud, check out the Commerce Department’s ‘Protecting What Matters’ podcast on this topic.
“If it sounds too good to be true,” Marti said. “Ninety five percent of the time it is.”