Cordray says his office received 30,000 complaints of scams and consumer fraud last year – up 20 percent from 2008.
CORDRAY: I think part of that is certainly because of the economic tough times and these predators have been very busy and active in going after people.
In addition to threats like identity theft that have been around for years, Cordray says the recession has introduced new scams. For example, some schemes charge job-seekers up front for non-existent help landing something.
Cuyahoga County had the second highest number of complaints in the state, after Franklin County.
Cordray highlighted the numbers at a Tower City kickoff for National Consumer Protection Week. He also unveiled an internet widget called Scam Alert. It’s a little box anyone can add to a website or social networking page.
CORDRAY: People can alert us and the widget will update automatically on people’s websites and Facebook pages and things. So they will have access, without doing anything other than installing it once, to the most up to date data around the state.
Democrat Cordray was elected in 2008 in a special election following the Marc Dann sexual harassment scandal. Cordray hopes to win a full term against Republican Mike DeWine this fall.