The Attorney General’s Office works every day to protect Ohio families from unfair and deceptive business practices and scams. The office accepts and handles consumer complaints through an informal dispute-resolution process to assist consumers and businesses in reaching a mutual agreement to resolve issues. In 2020, the office received over 24,000 complaints.
The Consumer Protection Section tracks complaints in several general categories for reporting purposes; in 2020, the top overall categories were:
- Motor vehicles
- Coronavirus-related
- Shopping, food or beverage
- Professional services
- Collections, credit reporting or financial services
- Home or property improvement
- Utilities, phone, internet or TV services
- Identity theft
Consumer complaints generally are handled by specialists from the Consumer Protection Section. Complaint resolution might involve, for example, a refund for the consumer or an adjustment of charges or services.
The office also takes complaints from small businesses and nonprofit organizations. In 2020, the office logged more than 700 complaints from small businesses or nonprofits and provided dispute resolution similar to that offered to consumers.
Our Civil Investigative Unit opened up nearly 246 cases in 2020, and the Civil Legal Unit filed 46 cases. Further, the Civil Legal Unit obtained over $31 million in judgments in 2020 on behalf of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
Our Economic Crimes Unit continued our efforts to identify, investigate and prosecute scam artists, opening over 459 criminal investigative matters in 2020. Working with local law enforcement and prosecutors, our Economic Crimes Unit filed 5 indictments and obtained 12 convictions.
In March 2020, as part of the Attorney General’s anti-robocall initiative, the Consumer Protection Section introduced its new Robocall Enforcement Unit. Launched with the slogan “Just Don’t Answer!” the Unit encourages Ohioans to not answer or reply to phone numbers they do not recognize. Using a new and more efficient complaint process designed specifically to empower Ohioans to report illegal robocalls, the Unit analyzes complaint data to try to put a stop to illegal and unwanted calls and texts. Since its inception, the Unit has received over 38,500 unwanted call reports.
Consumers who believe they have been treated unfairly or been the victim of identity theft should contact the Ohio Attorney General’s Office at 800-282-0515 or visit
www.OhioProtects.org.