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Columbus Dispatch...
Attorney general seeks more ways to go after Web, phone scammers
By David Eggert
9/17/11 

The state attorney general’s office wants the power to criminally charge suspects who defraud people using websites and phones. 

Currently, attorney general investigators can subpoena phone records, Internet addresses and payment information only to build civil cases. They can seek fines and restitution, but no criminal punishment, such as jail time. 

Legislation introduced yesterday would give the attorney general criminal subpoena power for cases of suspected telecommunication fraud, such as eBay and Craigslist rip-offs, or cons in which unwitting grandparents agree to wire money to callers posing as grandchildren. 

DeWine said civil penalties are a “cost of doing business” for many scam artists. 

“So they frankly need to go to jail,” he said during a Statehouse news conference, where he was joined by state Sen. Kevin Bacon, R-Columbus, and prosecutors including Delaware County’s Carol O’Brien. 

The goal, DeWine said, is for his office to build cyber-crime cases and turn them over to counties for prosecution, or county prosecutors could ask the attorney general’s office to handle the prosecutions. 

“Many prosecutors don’t have a big budget. They don’t have a lot of staff,” said Bacon, who pointed to rural areas. “It’s much easier to have one central location to assist the county prosecutors.” 

Officials reported that about 7,300 Ohioans lost more than $10 million because of cyber fraud last year, a figure DeWine suspects is low because he said many victims of fraud never report it. 

DeWine said the legislation complements a new effort within his consumer-protection section. 

The state received more than 30,000 consumer-protection complaints in 2010, but just two cases were prosecuted criminally. After taking office, DeWine set up an economic-crimes division within his office to turn more of those complaints into criminal cases. 

The division has obtained several indictments and had its first conviction last week — a Cincinnati-area man who cheated homeowners on repair work. 

In addition to giving the attorney general more power, the legislation also would stiffen felony penalties for telecommunication fraud and go after criminals who con the elderly and disabled with more jail time. 

To file a complaint, go to www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/consumercomplaint or call 1-800-282-05105. 

Read it at the Columbus Dispatch

 

 

 



 
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