{"id":208175,"date":"2026-07-23T20:26:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T01:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=208175"},"modified":"2026-07-23T20:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T01:26:07","slug":"romance-scams-targeted-by-ag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/07\/23\/romance-scams-targeted-by-ag\/","title":{"rendered":"Romance scams targeted by AG"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>VW independent staff\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COLUMBUS &#8212; Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson has announced a multi-pronged initiative to help Ohioans identify romance scams, ward off financial losses, encourage people to report suspected cases to authorities, and support victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Romance scammers, who often prey on older adults, establish a fake online relationship with their victims to gain their trust before requesting money. Such scams often leave victims financially devastated and emotionally isolated, and many cases go unreported because victims feel embarrassed and are thus reluctant to seek help.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"172\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/romscam-promocard-2026_original.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-208176\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo Ohioan should lose his or her life savings to someone pretending to care about them,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cThese scammers are sophisticated, emotionally manipulative and, sadly, increasingly common. We\u2019re giving families a place to turn when they suspect something isn\u2019t right and providing law enforcement with valuable information to investigate these crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The initiative establishes a dedicated hotline \u2013&nbsp;1-855-961-SCAM&nbsp;\u2013 for those who have been victimized or who believe a loved one may be the victim of a romance scam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hotline users can share information with AG Wilson\u2019s Constituent Services Section, which will coordinate with experts from across the office. Information will be reviewed by forensic investigators with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) for indicators of fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Victims or their loved ones will receive educational resources and guidance from Wilson\u2019s Consumer Protection Section to help them prevent additional financial losses and better understand available options. Cases involving potential criminal violations may be referred to local law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMany victims don\u2019t realize or don\u2019t want to believe they&#8217;re being manipulated \u2013 that\u2019s how good many of these scammers are,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cOur goal is to help families intervene sooner and prevent their loved ones from becoming victims.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone who suspects a romance scam involving themselves or a loved one is encouraged to call&nbsp;1-855-961-SCAM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VW independent staff\/submitted information COLUMBUS &#8212; Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson has announced a multi-pronged initiative to help Ohioans identify romance scams, ward off financial losses, encourage people to report suspected cases to authorities, and support victims. Romance scammers, who often prey on older adults, establish a fake online relationship with their victims to gain [&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-208175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 08:08:43","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\/208175","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=208175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208177,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208175\/revisions\/208177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}