COLUMBUS – State officials are warning Ohioans about a couple of scams they say have netted con artists thousands of dollars.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is warning consumers to beware of online “sweetheart” scams, wh8ich generally begin when a con artist creates a phony profile on a dating website or social media and meets a victim online. The two begin communicating, and eventually the scammer asks the victim to send money to cover airfare to come visit, for hospital fees or medical costs, to get out of a foreign country or to access an inheritance they promise to share with the victim.
DeWine says consumers have reported losing an average of $29,000 in the 40 complaints his office has received in 2016 but some have reported sending more than a hundred thousand dollars over the course of several months or years to the scammers.
Victims generally are asked to send money using a wire-transfer service, money order, prepaid card, gift card, or other hard-to-trace payment method. Once sent, the money is nearly impossible to recover, DeWine said.
DeWine says we should research someone we meet online; don’t rely only on what that person tells you. Don’t send money to someone you’ve only met online and be very skeptical of requests for money sent via wire transfer, money order, prepaid money cards, or gift cards, he said.
Meanwhile, state insurance director Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor is warning that an international mail fraud “fake check” scam has resurfaced.
Criminals are mailing letters with counterfeit checks instructing recipients to deposit the check and return the amount as a “processing fee” to get a settlement or sweepstakes money which does not exist. The correspondence appears realistic as if from legitimate businesses, including insurance companies, to perpetuate the scam, Taylor said.
Taylor says one Ohioan recently received a letter stating their “winning settlement in the amount of $75,000 has been approved for payment” with a nearly $2,000 check while another was directed to deposit a $3,950 check, then pay a $3,600 fee, to receive a supposed $250,000 in winnings from the “consumer sweepstakes promotional draw.”
Taylor says consumers should question the validity of correspondence containing spelling or grammatical errors, second-guess correspondence offering a prize or money in exchange for a fee or specific personal information, such as bank account or social security numbers, as well as settlements, sweepstakes or contests requiring you to send money to a post office, drop box or an overseas address before claiming a prize.
She advises anyone should beware of checks from companies you do not do business with and contact the company listed on the check to investigate its legitimacy.