NEWBURY TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A handful of businesses across Geauga County have lost a combined $100,000 over the past month, all tied to a phone-spoofing scheme in which fraudsters impersonated a local bank to steal login credentials, according to the Geauga County Sheriff's Office.
"They’re very convincing when they get you on the phone," Chief Deputy TJ Rowan explained.
Janna Levak, an executive assistant at O'Reilly Equipment in Newbury Township, was almost another victim.
She too received a phone call with a caller ID that matched the number she had on file for Middlefield Bank.
"I looked at the number – it said 440, nothing unusual," Levak said.
She then detailed a 9-minute phone conversation in which the caller told Levak someone was attempting to cash a fraudulent check at Middlefield Bank. To stop it, the caller said they would send a note to her email address — which they already had on file — so she could log into her account and formally decline the transaction.
"I'm looking at it, the email looks like something our bank would send," she explained. "It's the colors, the logos, all the contact information at the bottom. So then I open the email and that was when I started to think, this is not legit, I started to feel a little bit uneasy."
So what prompted her to stop herself from going through with it? The username and password fields on the fake login page were too close together.
"They were touching, and normally when we log in, they're not touching — that's when I was like, 'Nope,'" Levak said.
Investigators say a handful of businesses across the county fell for the same setup and lost money. Geauga County Chief Deputy TJ Rowan said the key is to verify before you act.
"You don't think your bank is going to call you. If somebody is calling you sending you messages, you got to be able to verify it," Rowan said.
"I don't judge anybody who fell for it – this was very polished," Levak said.
In the end, O'Reilly Equipment did not lose any money and took several steps to ensure its finances were secure.
"I'm so thankful, I don't think I could've handled that stress," Levak said.
Farmers National Bank, which acquired Middlefield Bank, said in a statement that it is seeing an increase in this type of fraud tied to businesses with PPP loans. The bank also advised customers to hang up and call the bank directly if they receive a suspicious call.
“At Farmers National Bank, protecting our customers’ financial information and maintaining their trust remain among our highest priorities,” Kristi Blue, Director of Fraud Management, said in an emailed statement. “We encourage all business customers, especially those with current or previous PPP loans, to be aware that publicly available loan information is being used by criminals in complex impersonation scams to make fraudulent phone calls, emails, or text messages appear credible.”
“Customer vigilance is one of the most effective tools in preventing these types of schemes,” Blake Drennen, information security officer, added in an emailed statement. “If something feels suspicious or urgent, pause and verify the request through trusted, official channels before taking action.”
Clay LePard is the Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @ClayLePard, on Facebook ClayLePardTV or email him at Clay.LePard@wews.com.
