| Consumer Protection- All residents are safe, supported and able to care for themselves |
Strategic Priorities |
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7.7 Create and enforce a county-wide consumer protection standard
- All residents are safe, supported and able to care for themselves
About this measure |
This measure updates residents about consumer protection services, programs, and efforts led by the Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs.
Updates are provided on a biannual basis by the Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs. This page is a milestone measure, meaning updates take the form of qualitative, project-based narratives.
Why is this important? |
The Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs protects county residents from losing money to fraud and protects businesses from being undercut by rivals who use deceptive sales tactics. Its work is carried out by the Division of Consumer Protection and the Division of Weights and Measures. Cuyahoga County’s Consumer Protection Code gives Consumer Affairs a variety of enforcement tools to stop unfair practices. County residents can file complaints with Consumer Affairs online, by mail or by phone at 216-443-7035.
Consumer Affairs organizes and serves as a clearinghouse for Scam Squad, a county-led multi-disciplinary task force that unites nonprofits, social service agencies and enforcement agencies at all levels of government in the fight against fraud. Scam Squad’s goals are to encourage residents to report scams, encourage member agencies to share scam reports and to mine scam reports to alert County residents to current scam threats.
Performance Target |
This page is a milestone measure, meaning updates take the form of qualitative, project-based narratives to provide additional details related to core County programs and services. Measure performance is impacted by a number of factors, including funding levels, strategic priorities, community need, and policy decisions made at the federal, state, and local level. Performance targets are not set for milestone measures, but timely reporting of updates is important.
How are we making an impact? | |
In 2020, scammers exploited the pandemic to squeeze money or sensitive personal information from County residents. Robocallers tried to scare residents into paying bogus fines or fees by claiming their Social Security numbers had been used in crimes, their accounts had been hacked or they were in trouble with the law. Scammers also preyed on financially distressed residents by offering them bogus jobs, discounts, grants or prizes.
Throughout 2020, the Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs and its Scam Squad task force worked to help County residents spot, avoid and report scams. In 2020, the Department:
- Distributed more than 59,000 Coronavirus scam fliers to warn residents about health and job scams. These fliers give residents ways to reach legitimate sites for health, unemployment, and benefits information. Print fliers were distributed in bulk through Scam Squad partner agencies, police departments, County libraries, community centers, Census and school outreach programs, and nonprofits that offer residents food assistance.
- Expanded outreach to Spanish-speaking residents. The Department posted, printed, and distributed print Coronavirus scam fliers in Spanish. Consumer Affairs worked with the County IT and Fiscal Department to add a Spanish option to the Scam Squad scam reporting line, 216-443-SCAM (7226).
- Warned small businesses about scams targeting them. Consumer Affairs participated in a statewide virtual forum for small businesses hosted by the Federal Trade Commission. It also posted information to help businesses working remotely shore up cybersecurity and avoid phishing scams on the County’s Small Business Resource Page.
- Distributed more than 6,500 Scam Squad branded “Hang Up If …” cards to help older County residents recognize scam calls.
- Created a dedicated Coronavirus Scams web page to alert residents to about health, stimulus and other scams.
In addition to working with residents to report and recover from scams, investigators from the Division of Consumer Protection continued to work to resolve consumer complaints against businesses. Division of Weights and Measures inspectors revamped their procedures to allow for social distancing as they tested gas pumps and store scales to ensure Cuyahoga County residents get what they pay for.