Ohio consumers were conned out of $26.2 million more last year than they were in 2020, a 44% increase. The losses due to fraud were more than twice as much as in 2019.
In December, two Dayton residents were sentenced to four to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy charges tied to fraud and theft.
Myrtle Lynn Jackson and Joshua Dylan Chapman stole victims’ personal information from homes, vehicles and mailboxes and fraudulently applied for personal loans, student loans, unemployment benefits, credit cards, debit cards and checks, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
The fraudsters used some of their ill-gotten gains to buy drugs, rent motel rooms, shop at local stores and gamble at the casino.
ID theft reports nearly doubled in Ohio last year, according to the FTC, and they increased 86% in the Dayton region.
Fraud and ID theft reports to the Federal Trade Commission in 2020. CONTRIBUTED
Fraud and ID theft reports to the Federal Trade Commission in 2020. CONTRIBUTED
Two months ago, a 59-year-old Mexican national was sentenced to about a year in prison for stealing the identity of a disabled U.S. veteran.
Fernando Arroyo-Alonso was arrested in Warren County in May 2021 for misusing a Social Security number after applying for Social Security benefits using the disabled veteran’s fraudulently obtained birth certificate and Social Security card, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of…
