Jacksonville joins initiative to fight fraud in Florida

Fraud Free Florida brings together state, local law enforcement to stop scammers

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Staying two steps ahead of scammers is the goal of a new state initiative called Fraud Free Florida.

On Thursday, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis announced the city of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office are the first partners to enhance investigative efforts to fight fraud as part of the state initiative

In 2018, there were 1,362 fraud cases -- including check fraud, identity fraud, insurance fraud and credit card fraud -- in Duval County. The No. 1 complaint sent to the News4Jax I-TEAM is contractor rip-offs. For example, roofer Roger Van Den Bosch has been at the center of an I-TEAM investigation for months. He's accused of taking money from customers and insurance companies with no intention of doing the work. He’s now facing five felony charges.

"Florida ranks No. 1 for fraud in the United States. We are ranked No. 4 for ID theft. The statistics are staggering and they are not acceptable," Patronis said. "My mom is not going to tell me when she was taking advantage of. She’s way too embarrassed to do that."

That’s why, alongside Sheriff Mike Williams and Mayor Lenny Curry, Patronis announced the new partnership. Fraud Free Florida launched earlier this month. The state initiative brings together state and local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to get scammers off the streets. 

"A lot of these cases go unreported," Williams said. "So as many as we do work, who knows how many we don't work."

Fraud Free Florida provides a safe space for victims to report crimes and, in turn, arms others with the information they need to know about how to protect themselves from the latest scam.