Contact:
Sue McConnell, Senior VP
216.623.8964 x 109
sue@cleveland.bbb.org
For Immediate Release – June 25, 2010 - Better Business Bureau Serving Greater Cleveland has learned that a phony financial assistance program that operated in 2008 has surfaced again.
Callers to BBB have reported receiving flyers from The Ohio Advantage Program (OAP) at their residences or from individuals handing them out at public places.
OAP first came to BBB’s attention in May, 2008, in much the same way – flyers were distributed at local college campuses and placed in residential mailboxes. The flyers claimed that OAP could provide “…incentive based programs for Ohio’s disadvantaged.” Services offered included rent subsidies, food and clothing vouchers, child day care vouchers, grants for computers, employment assistance, etc.
Hopeful recipients were instructed to meet at community centers or library meeting rooms. The meetings were conducted by Santina Gibbs who would request information such as Social Security numbers, birth certificates, utility bills, bank account information and copies of driver’s licenses. Participants were told they could qualify for $500 in home assistance right away and $4,500 more in coming months, so long as their household income was under a certain level.
One Cleveland woman told BBB, “I was accepted to get a $20,000 grant which I would not get all at once but that I would be funded for housing-$600 per month,food-$80 per week, clothing-$180 per moth,$40-per week for my newborn baby, and utilities would also be paid when I found a place to live. (Gibbs) told me she needed to meet with me to go over some things and for me to sign some papers. …she gave me the address 8111 Quincy Avenue and told me she would be in community room one. They told me they would direct deposit the money into my checking account so I gave them the information they needed. The next day I checked my account balance online and my account was overdrawn leaving me with -38 dollars in my account which just the day before was at +521.”
As it turned out, Santina Gibbs was really Darnell Nash. In October, 2008, one of Nash’s OAP meetings in the Akron area was shut down by Akron police. Nash was later indicted for identity theft in Summit County as a result of information he obtained from an OAP applicant. He pled guilty to one count of attempted identity theft and one count of petty theft.
BBB discovered that Nash registered a web site, www.myadvantageprogram.org, in April, 2009. The registration indicates the site is for United Community Services Association with an address in Garfield Heights. The web site promotes several programs, including OAP.
Nash gained national press after the 2008 presidential election for registering to vote several times with false names in Cuyahoga County through ACORN. Nash entered a guilty plea to one count of casting a fraudulent ballot and to several counts of false registration on August 5, 2009, and was sentenced later that month.
The flyer distributed in the past month by OAP uses an identical logo, description of the program, and list of services offered as the flyer used in 2008. Consumers who contacted OAP were asked to provide their Social Security numbers and birthdates and were told they would be contacted at a later date. A Cleveland woman filed a complaint with BBB after she provided her personal information but never received the promised follow up from OAP.
BBB has confirmed there is no state assistance program known as “Ohio Advantage Program.”
BBB cautions consumer to not divulge Social Security numbers, account numbers and other personal information to OAP or any unfamiliar organization. Scammers often use the promise of government grants or other financial assistance as a ploy to get personal information and use it to steal identities.