In recognition of April being proclaimed Fraud Prevention Month by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, the Ohio Department of Commerce is highlighting the growing threats facing consumers, and the agency’s work to protect Ohioans through education, enforcement and accountability.
From romance fraud to deed fraud, and AI?powered impersonation schemes to the financial exploitation of older adults, fraud continues to evolve at a rapid pace. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, Americans reported more than 859,000 complaints and over $16 billion in losses in 2024, which is a 33% increase from the previous year. In Ohio, the Federal Trade Commission found that identity theft was the most common online complaint in 2024, with residents filing 27,766 reports.
Across Commerce, multiple divisions work daily to identify, stop and alert Ohioans to scams before they’re impacted, while…
Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on every sensitive account, specifically your primary email and banking apps, opting for authenticator apps over SMS to mitigate the risk of SIM-swap fraud.