Cleveland community leaders share personal scam stories to help others

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – The Federal Trade Commission hosted a roundtable Tuesday where people shared their personal stories of being victims of scams.

They hope that by sharing these stories, more people will spot the scam before it’s too late.

So far this year, Ohioans have reported 30,000 scams, lost nearly $100 million, and reported nearly 15,000 cases of identity theft.

Scammers do not target a specific group of people, in fact, anyone can fall victim to this scam.

A Cleveland police officer shared his story of being scammed at a gas station.

He says it’s a scam the ministry hears about often.

“I’ve been scammed a few times. I’ve used my card at the pump and all of a sudden $50 or $100 has been taken out of my account,” A. Calhoun said.

Another woman told a story of how scammers targeted her community.

Refugees are asked to attend a community meeting, where scammers obtain their WhatsApp contacts and ask them for money.

“We know that refugees often need help in many different ways,” said Florence Laure.

If you receive SNAP benefits, you may also be a target.

Scammers are hacking EBT cards and draining them right after their monthly payments are due.

Creating a problem for people who need this money.

“This is the last month that the reserve fund is approved by Congress,” one representative said. “So we don’t know if we’ll be able to change those benefits after this month.”

Scams are also on the rise, according to the Federal Trade Commission, and they ask people to pay with cryptocurrency, cash, money orders and/or gift cards.

“No one from the government or any legitimate business will ask you to pay through these means,” Larissa Bungo explained.

Click here to receive fraud alerts from the FTC Here.

To report a scam you can click Here.

If you think you have been scammed, you can call the city of Cleveland’s 311 number.