Ohio Attorney General warns seniors of scams

LANCASTER – The Fairfield County District Library on Thursday took possession of a number of Senior Advocate Fraud Education tool kits.

The kits are booklets that outline some of the problems — and their remedies — faced by senior citizens when dealing with scam artists and fraud. They were delivered by Attorney General Mike DeWine, whose office developed the kits to help seniors and their advocates.

“Since I took office, the attorney general’s office has had 176 complaints from Fairfield County dealing with scams aimed at seniors,” said DeWine, who took office 2011.

Of those complaints, 12 resulted in the loss of more than $20,000. The scams included a grandparents scheme, in which scammers called elderly people claiming to be grandchildren in trouble with police and asked the people to wire them money.

“The callers are often mumbling and hard to hear, and they tell the grandparents not to tell their parents,” DeWine said. “But it’s not their grandchildren they are talking to, and the grandparents are out the money.”

Lancaster Police Chief Dave Bailey said one of the common scams city police handle at this time of year has con artists approaching elderly residents and promising to do work, such as painting a house or resealing a driveway. They do shoddy work, if any at all, for exorbitant prices.

“We tell people not to deal with people who come to your home asking for work,” Bailey said.

People ho need work done should contact a contractor and check his or her references before making any commitments, he said.

Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phlaen said the statistics are notable.

“When you look at most crime, or violent crime, it generally happens to the (18- to 35-year-old) age brackets,” Phalen said. “But if you look at scams, the elderly have the highest percentage of victims.”

DeWine also agreed with Bailey and Phalen that theft from the elderly is one of the most underreported crimes.

“Many of the elderly feel betrayed or embarrassed and don’t want others to know they’ve been had,” DeWine said. “But it’s important for it to be reported. It needs to be reported to local or law enforcement or to us. We have a toll-free number people can call to report the scams.”

The booklets will be available at the Fairfield County District Library, 219 N. Broad St., Lancaster, and the attorney general’s website, www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov.

After the presentation of the books, DeWine also refuted claims made Thursday in a news release by his opponent in November’s election, David Pepper. Pepper said he had accepted debate dates but that “to date, the DeWine campaign has refused to discuss debates, despite multiple private attempts to find a mutually agreeable time to enter into debate negotiations.”

DeWine said he always has debated his opponents and plans to do so again.

“We are still getting invitations and going through them and want to wait until they are all in before making any commitments. They need to be geographical, and we’ve told them that we want to debate,” DeWine said. “I look forward to comparing my record as an experienced former prosecutor against someone who hasn’t tried a criminal case ever.”