Scam, fraud & security help in Columbus, Indiana
Protect Indiana is a plain-language security service for Hoosier households and small organizations. If you live in Columbus or anywhere in Bartholomew County, in south-central Indiana, we show you for free exactly what a scammer already knows about you — leaked passwords, your posted home address, a forgeable email — and then, if you want it, we close it. No jargon, no fear-selling, and a written plan you can keep.
Free protection for Columbus residents 65+, veterans, and Indiana nonprofits and houses of worship, as our schedule allows. Prefer to read first? See how we help. If you've been scammed: start here.
- 1. CheckWe show you what is leaked and posted about you — free.
- 2. Your planPay once and a plain-English lockdown plan is ready right away.
- 3. RemovalsWe file the people-search removals that post your address.
- 4. On watchOptional monthly watch — only if you ask for it.
What we see around Columbus
Fraud does not respect the county line, but some patterns land harder in Bartholomew County and south-central Indiana. These are the ones we help Columbus households and small organizations shut down:
- The grandparent scam. A late-night call: a grandchild in trouble, needs cash or gift cards, please do not tell anyone. The urgency and secrecy are the tell.
- Medicare and health-plan calls. Callers fish for your Medicare or Social Security number by offering a “free” brace, test, or new card.
- Utility shut-off threats. A caller claims your electric or water will be cut off today unless you pay right now by card or app.
- Contractor and storm-chaser scams. After bad weather, out-of-town crews take deposits for roof and tree work and never return.
How we help Columbus households and organizations
Everything starts with a free exposure check: type in your email and, in about a second, see which data breaches it turned up in and what was taken — the same public leak records anyone can search. If you want to close what it finds, the Fix is $249, one time — no subscription. You get a lockdown plan built from your own results, in plain English, and we file the people-search removals that post your Columbus address for you while you work through it. Month-to-month On Watch is there if you want ongoing breach alerts, and you can cancel any time.
Because we have no sales team, the person who answers your email is the person who does the work. We serve Columbus the same way we serve the rest of Indiana — remotely for accounts, devices and removals, and on-site where a home network or the house itself needs eyes on it.
Official help for Columbus residents
We are an independent Indiana service — not a government agency — and we will always point you to the free official resources first:
- Report a scam or fraud in Indiana: the Indiana Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, 1-800-382-5516, or file online at in.gov/attorneygeneral.
- Older adults in Bartholomew County: Indiana's Area Agencies on Aging and Aging & Disability Resource Centers, 1-800-713-9023 — free help with fraud, caregiving and benefits, any age or income.
- Report to the federal government: the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and, for online crime, the FBI at ic3.gov.
- Already been scammed? Do the first-hour steps now: the first hour after a scam.
Other Indiana communities we serve: Indianapolis · Fort Wayne · Evansville · South Bend · Carmel · Fishers · Bloomington · Hammond · Gary · Lafayette · Muncie · Terre Haute · Kokomo · Anderson · Noblesville · Greenwood · Elkhart · New Castle · Greenfield — or see every area.
See what's exposed about you in Columbus
It is free, it takes about a second, and you keep the answer either way.