{"id":128105,"date":"2020-02-12T09:08:33","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T14:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=128105"},"modified":"2020-02-12T09:08:39","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T14:08:39","slug":"ohio-a-g-issues-romance-scam-warning-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2020\/02\/12\/ohio-a-g-issues-romance-scam-warning-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio A-G issues romance scam warning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COLUMBUS &#8212; Ohioans who are pierced by Cupid\u2019s arrow this Valentine\u2019s Day should make sure they\u2019re not actually being struck by fraud, Attorney General Dave Yost warns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"221\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Dave-Yost-headshot-3-2019.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-114727\"\/><figcaption><strong>Dave Yost<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA fake online romance can break your heart and the bank,\u201d Yost said. \u201cKnowing how to spot the red flags can keep bad love from getting worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yost\u2019s Consumer Protection Section received 57 complaints of possible romance scams in 2019. Reported losses totaled almost $4 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The scammers often say they live overseas and need money because of a medical emergency or to leave their country. In many cases, they pretend to be in the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Clinton County woman said she lost $475,000 to someone she met on a dating website who claimed to be in Egypt. The victim sent money by credit card, cash, and gift cards, believing the person needed help paying to ship goods internationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another complaint from a Richland County woman describes how someone on a dating website scammed her into sending $300,000 by wire transfer, supposedly so the person could pay for hotels and attorneys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yost encourages Ohioans to follow these online dating tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Research people met online and do not rely solely on what they say. Conduct internet searches and check with independent sources to verify their claims.<\/li><li>Be cautious of people who claim it was destiny or fate that brought you together or who claim to love you shortly after you meet.<\/li><li>Talk to friends and family members about any online relationships, even if the other person asks you to keep the relationship a secret.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Don\u2019t send money to someone you\u2019ve only met online, even if you have developed a relationship.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Be skeptical of requests asking you to send money via wire transfer, money order, prepaid money cards or gift cards. These are preferred payment methods of scammers.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Consumers who suspect an unfair or deceptive sales practice should contact the Ohio Attorney General\u2019s Office at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lnks.gd\/l\/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDEsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMDAyMTEuMTY5ODA3ODEiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lm9oaW9wcm90ZWN0cy5vcmcvIn0.adGxA_bAzzknuZwOhe1t21pu95TqDmq4cD4WRewISjY\/br\/74890318945-l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.OhioProtects.org<\/a>&nbsp;or 800.282.0515.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Submitted information COLUMBUS &#8212; Ohioans who are pierced by Cupid\u2019s arrow this Valentine\u2019s Day should make sure they\u2019re not actually being struck by fraud, Attorney General Dave Yost warns. \u201cA fake online romance can break your heart and the bank,\u201d Yost said. \u201cKnowing how to spot the red flags can keep bad love from getting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 03:08:29","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}