Imposter scams on the rise in 2025 impacting thousands of Ohioans.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Financial Institutions is issuing a warning about the rise of imposter scams.

Citing data from the Federal Trade Commission, reports of imposter scams this year are up nearly 47% compared to this point in 2024. So far this year 12,837 reported scams pretending to be government official or businesses. The most typical types of scams that were highlighted by the Department of Commerce are those pretending to be law enforcement and those pretending to be family in need.

“You have so many that are going around now a days. One of them is an imposter pretending to be your family member and the family member is in need of some type of help. They’re playing on your emotions so they want you to get emotional they want to keep you on the phone as long as they can so that they can get whatever they can from you,” said Kenyetta Bagby, the Office of Consumer Affairs Manager.

A common tactic used during these phone call based scams is to keep you on the line for as long as possible, denying you a chance to reach out to others to ask about the caller’s legitimacy.

“They are trying to do whatever they can to keep you on the phone. They don’t want you to call anyone else, they don’t want you to speak to anyone else, they want to keep you aligned with that conversation so that they can play on your emotions and get whatever they need from you,” Bagby said. “So anytime that you feel pressured to make a payment, to send something, to give them any kind of information, hang up the phone.”

If you feel that you have fallen victim to these imposter scams, you should contact local law enforcement as well as the credit reporting agencies to let them know your information has been compromised. You are also encouraged to call the Ohio Attorney Generals and the Office of Consumer Affairs.