The Mahoning County prosecutor, Lynn Maro, gave a presentation in Poland Township on Thursday evening to raise awareness of fraud in the community. 

In 2025, Poland Township authorities received at least 47 reports of fraud and online theft. The documented financial impacts totaled $889,748 and around $422,000 in confirmed losses. 

The presentation was free and open to all members of the community.

Maro focused primarily on teaching about common scam tactics that are used by scammers in the area, while also providing practical steps that residents can take to avoid the scam.

"People will do a variety of things, like steal checks out of the mail and use chemicals to dissolve the ink, write them to someone else and cash them," Maro explained. "They also use phone calls to gain access to people's bank accounts. They're very creative, and every time we tell the public about one scam, they start using a new one."

Maro described the tactics used by the scammers as "very aggressive and convincing." She also added that it is imperative to stay educated about fraud to protect themselves and their assets from scams.