In February 2026, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office charged an individual in connection with her alleged role in rigging bids to artificially inflate prices in online auctions.  A Franklin County, Ohio grand jury indicted the defendant on counts of price fixing, bid-rigging, telecommunications fraud and identity fraud.

The indictment alleges that the defendant used fake identities to place bids on 760 auction items, and that this practice of “shill bidding” inflated closing auction prices by approximately $9000 between July 2022 and March 2023.  The indictment states that the defendant’s business acquired inventory and sold it through an online platform, which alerted the Ohio Department of Agriculture of unusual bidding activity.  The Ohio Department of Agriculture and Ohio Attorney General’s Office then conducted a joint investigation.