Dear Ohio Lakefront Members,
Recently, several of our board members received an email from an individual claiming to be OLG President Tony Yankel asking for donations of gift cards to purchase emergency items and PPE to distribute to local nursing facilities and respite care facilities due to the COVID-19 challenge.
This email did not come from Tony. From our initial review of the situation, it appears that there was not any sort of a hack of our system or access of our email accounts or Tony’s email. Most likely this person found email addresses associated with likely lakefront property owners online and he or she created an email in Tony’s name. This is a scam that has been used frequently in churches, veterans organizations, and other groups in Ohio for the past few years but is circulating again to take advantage of people during this time of uncertainty.
If you receive this email, please do not respond to it in any way as in doing so you may be sharing personal information with the scammer. Instead, you can forward it to (who?) so that we can continue to monitor the situation. You may also notify your local law enforcement agency.
The Ohio Attorney General has published this list of common scams and things to look out for when you might be the target of an online scam. Please take a look at it and share with friends or family members who might be vulnerable in their generosity.
Sincerely,
Tony Yankel
President, Ohio Lakefront Group