COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced on Thursday that his office is partnering with Craigslist to stop those who seek to defraud Ohioans through its website.
"Over the past decade, scammers and predators have migrated criminal activities to the Internet and have scammed consumers out of hundreds of millions of dollars," Cordray said.
"Our new partnership with Craigslist sends a clear message to online scammers - stay away from targeting Ohioans."
Cordray has asked Craigslist to place a link on its "scams and frauds" page so that those scammed or who feel they see an Ohio-based scam can submit a complaint directly to his office. Craigslist was happy to add the link, and from now on, online fraud will be identified and tracked by Cordray's Financial Cyber Crime Unit.
"It is our goal to set the standard for effective partnership with law enforcement," William C. Powell, Craigslist's Director of Customer Service and Law Enforcement Relations, said.
"Craigslist has always taken pride in its cooperation with law enforcement and we share Attorney General Cordray's desire to make craigslist a hostile place for any scammer and anyone who would misuse its predominately free services. We appreciate Attorney General Cordray's leadership in this area and look forward to a relationship that can serve as a model for law enforcement agencies throughout the country."
In early 2010, Cordray created the Financial Cyber Crime Unit to detect online crimes.
"Craigslist has been very cooperative with this initiative, which will be an ongoing conversation that protects Ohioans," Cordray said.