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• There are a lot of press releases and other submissions that flow through the newsroom on a regular basis. A couple that have turned up in the e-mail during the last several weeks seem to have brought a little more interest with them than some of the others.
For example, on June 12, the Division of Unclaimed Funds of the Ohio Department of Commerce issued an update on the amount of money that is being held, just waiting for someone to step up and claim it.
According to the information provided by the department, the state is in possession of about $4 billion in unclaimed funds. It's a pot that is made up of money that has been lost or forgotten and that businesses and banks have reported to the commerce department after the accounts have become inactive, which is between three and five years.
It should come as no surprise that the largest percentage of that money belongs to residents of the state's largest counties. Cuyahoga County, for instance, leads the state with $477 million in unclaimed funds -- that's about 12 percent of the total. Franklin County is a distant second, at $343.1 million, with Hamilton County third at $267.3 million, Montgomery County fourth at $131.4 million and Summit County fifth at $130 million.
So, how much money is waiting to be claimed by residents across our region?
Well, the total in Jefferson County is $14,846, 603.15, which places it at 31st in the state. Not too far behind in Belmont County, which, with a total of $12,801,635.62, is 33rd.
Carroll County is 79th, with a total of $2,581,927.10, while Harrison County is 83rd at $2,223,421.58.
Columbiana County, by the way, is 22nd, with a total of $19,946,896.62. And, all those figures are much greater than the unclaimed funds in Noble County, which total $736,330.14, placing it last among the state's 88 counties.
"The average unclaimed funds claim payout last year per claim was $2,031, so we're not talking about pennies," explained Susie Wagner, outreach administrator for the unclaimed funds division.
It's all money that comes from inactive checking and savings accounts, stocks and bonds, forgotten utility deposits, unknown insurance claims or last paychecks, the commerce department said.
If you think there's money out there waiting for you to find, it's best to visit unclaimedfunds.ohio.gov and follow the instructions. While it's unlikely you will come across a big payday, it is possible there might be some money out there with your name on it that you don't know about.
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While you can trust the Ohio Department of Commerce site to provide legitimate information and to offer a safe way to look for details, that's not always the case when it comes to the internet.
In fact, some of the biggest dangers come from phishing schemes that involve government impersonation, offers of government refunds and attempts to confirm financial information.
That's according to information compiled by the Better Business Bureau and released through the BBB that covers the Canton Region and Greater West Virginia.
A report issued at the beginning of the month, "BBB Investigation: BBB Tallies Record Number of Reports as Scammers Adopt New Technologies," shows that, according to the organization's Scam Tracker, the number of phishing scam reports reached a record total of more than 9,000 in 2023, with trends indicating 2024 likely will be another record year.
Between 2021 and 2023, the numbers show, there were 8,346 e-mail phishing issues reported, as well as 7,416 vishing (call and voicemail) cases, 3,486 smishing (SMS) cases, 315 pharming (malicious links) cases and 200 cases of business e-mail compromise. That's 19,763 reports -- during a period when the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded 962,508 complaints.
Among the key findings of the report is that phishing, despite being one of the oldest and most well-known scam techniques, is successful because of its adaptability to various forms of communication.
Besides the government angles, the BBB said red flags to look for include claims about suspicious activity or fraudulent logins; unexpected problems with accounts; attempts to confirm financial information; requests to click a link to make a payment; sending of coupons that weren't asked for; a generic message paired with a company logo; a message that is filled with typos and contains urgent language; or pretends to come from a known authority figure requesting a business payment.
Regular readers of our police reports have no doubt seen the numerous complaints filed after a person has fallen victim to a scam. By the time you reach that point, it's likely that there's not too much that can be done to fix the situation.
That's why it's important to always keep your guard up -- whether you're looking to see if your name is attached to unclaimed funds or just trying to make a payment on time.
(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times.)