Where do you turn for help when you and a company disagree?

Some companies ask for large upfront fees for dispute resolution services, but other organizations offer free help.

If you or someone you know loses money in a scam involving a wire transfer, file a complaint with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and report the fraud to the wire transfer company.

Report fraud to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office by filing a consumer complaint at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/ConsumerComplaint or calling 800-282-0515. Keep in mind that once money has been sent via wire transfer, it can be very difficult – if not impossible – to recover. Nevertheless, complaints are an important tool for tracking potential criminal activity.

Just months after the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced it is retiring paper checks for federal benefit payments and going all-electronic by March 1, 2013, the use of direct deposit is on the upswing – including in the Midwest.

Currently, 88 percent of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments in the Midwest are made electronically. While that number is up from 85 percent seven months ago, residents of these states still rely on nearly 1.78 million Social Security paper check payments each month, putting their money at risk of theft or fraud.

Ohio high school students can submit 60-second videos on Internet safety for the chance to win college scholarships in the 2011 Take Action High School Video Contest.

In September 2010, officers of the Central Vice Control Section of the Cincinnati Police Department noticed members of a motorcycle gang at a local bar not known as a biker bar.

Police knew there had been skirmishes between rival gangs and “takeovers” of local bars in which a gang would lock it down and line up patrons to see if any belonged to a rival gang. There were warnings out, too, that a gang’s “enforcer” was in the area.