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Business
Fyre Festival Brand Sold On eBay For Disappointing Price: 'This Sucks, It's So Low' Fyre Festival Brand Sold On eBay For Disappointing Price: 'This Sucks, It's So Low'
Fyre Festival Brand Sold On eBay For Disappointing Price: 'This Sucks, It's So Low' The name synonymous with a failed music festival, fraud, and bland cheese sandwiches has been sold on eBay. A bidder purchased Fyre Festival's notorious brand, trademarks, and social media accounts for $245,300 on Tuesday, July 15. The eBay auction ended at 12:44 p.m., closing a chapter in one of the most infamous stories in music festival history. According to the eBay listing, 42 bidders placed 175 bids in the auction. The brand's winning bidder hasn't been announced as of press time. The listing claimed the winner would have access to "the most talked-about festival brand in t…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
$39K In PA Farm Checks Stolen, Cashed In Chicago: Fugitive Wanted In Fraud Scheme $39K In PA Farm Checks Stolen, Cashed In Chicago: Fugitive Wanted In Fraud Scheme
$39K In PA Farm Checks Stolen, Cashed In Chicago: Fugitive Wanted In Fraud Scheme A Chicago man is wanted for stealing and altering nearly $40,000 in checks from a Pennsylvania farm supply company — then cashing them across state lines in an elaborate fraud scheme, authorities announced on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. Patrick L. Tribune, 36, swiped four checks intended for White Horse Machine LLC, a farm equipment company based in Gap, PA, police said. The checks, originally mailed in October 2024, were intercepted, re-written, and funneled into a PNC Bank account in Chicago, according to Ephrata Police. The total damage: $39,181. The scheme was uncovered after Ephrata Nation…

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by Jillian Pikora
Business
Amazon Issues Alert For Prime Day Scam Amazon Issues Alert For Prime Day Scam
Amazon Issues Alert For Prime Day Scam Prime members are being urged to stay vigilant following a new scam warning by Amazon as its annual Prime Day event gets underway. Prime Day is often used by scammers as cover for phishing attempts and impersonation fraud. It runs from Tuesday, July 8, through Friday, July 11. The company says fraudsters are increasingly targeting shoppers with fake emails, texts, and phone calls that appear to come from Amazon.  The goal: to trick users into handing over personal or financial information. In many cases, the messages create a false sense of urgency, such as a problem with an ord…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
$250K Hard Drive Scam Run On Tech Giant By Montco Man, AG Alleges $250K Hard Drive Scam Run On Tech Giant By Montco Man, AG Alleges
$250K Hard Drive Scam Run On Tech Giant By Montco Man, AG Alleges A Montgomery County man ran a $250,000 hard drive scam on a global tech company using fake names and prepaid cards, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said on Wednesday, July 2. Kwan Woo Lee, 29, of Wyncote, allegedly purchased hundreds of hard drives from Seagate Technology, then filed warranty claims saying they were defective. Under company policy, Seagate issued replacements on the promise the originals would be returned. But investigators say Lee never returned the hard drives — which were fully functional — and instead resold them on the secondary market. To avoid being charge…

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by Jillian Pikora
News
Funeral Home Owner Who Stashed 190 Decaying Bodies Gets Maximum Federal Sentence: 'Inhumane' Funeral Home Owner Who Stashed 190 Decaying Bodies Gets Maximum Federal Sentence: 'Inhumane'
Funeral Home Owner Who Stashed 190 Decaying Bodies Gets Maximum Federal Sentence: 'Inhumane' A Colorado man who gave grieving families urns filled with dry concrete instead of their loved ones’ ashes has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison — the maximum possible sentence, authorities announced Friday, June 27. Jon M. Hallford, 45, of Colorado Springs, was the owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home, which operated in Colorado Springs and Penrose alongside his wife, Carie Hallford.  Over a four-year period, Hallford failed to cremate or bury at least 190 bodies — while collecting more than $130,000 from families for services he never provided, the U.S. Attorney’s Office…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
PA Bookkeeper Stole $822K From Law Firm In NJ In 6-Year Remote Embezzlement PA Bookkeeper Stole $822K From Law Firm In NJ In 6-Year Remote Embezzlement
PA Bookkeeper Stole $822K From Law Firm In NJ In 6-Year Remote Embezzlement She worked remotely from Pennsylvania — and secretly funneled hundreds of thousands from her New Jersey law firm. Now, the 66-year-old bookkeeper is going to jail for a years-long financial betrayal. A former bookkeeper who siphoned more than $800,000 from a Bucks County-based law firm with operations in New Jersey has been sentenced to county jail, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office announced on Friday, June 27. Reese Esther Paul, 66, of Holland in Northampton Township, was handed a sentence of one year less a day to two years less a day in the Bucks County Correctional Facility, …

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by Jillian Pikora
Business
Walmart To Pay $10M After Scammers Exploit Money Transfer Services, FTC Says Walmart To Pay $10M After Scammers Exploit Money Transfer Services, FTC Says
Walmart To Pay $10M After Scammers Exploit Money Transfer Services, FTC Says Walmart will pay $10 million and change its money transfer practices after federal regulators said the company let scammers steal hundreds of millions of dollars from Americans. Walmart agreed to the payout in a settlement, the Federal Trade Commission announced on Friday, June 20. The agency's three commissioners unanimously approved the final order. The FTC accused the retail giant of allowing fraudsters to misuse its wire transfer services between 2013 and 2018. "Electronic money transfers are one of the most common ways that scammers tell consumers to send them money, be…

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by Chris Spiker
News
'Heartless Frauds': Feds Seize Record $225M In Crypto From 'Pig Butchering' Scammers 'Heartless Frauds': Feds Seize Record $225M In Crypto From 'Pig Butchering' Scammers
'Heartless Frauds': Feds Seize Record $225M In Crypto From 'Pig Butchering' Scammers Federal agents have seized the largest amount of cryptocurrency ever related to "pig butchering" scams, where victims were tricked into fake online relationships. The Department of Justice announced the seizure of $225.3 million in crypto from the global "confidence scam" on Wednesday, June 18. The scam is also known as "pig butchering" since it uses tactics used to "fatten up" victims before draining their savings. Scammers relied on false identities through online messaging to gain trust and enter fake relationships before pushing fraudulent investments. "These scams prey …

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by Chris Spiker
News
‘To-Do List’ For Crime: PA Man Tried Framing Neighbors In Bizarre Attempted Homicide Hoax: DA ‘To-Do List’ For Crime: PA Man Tried Framing Neighbors In Bizarre Attempted Homicide Hoax: DA
‘To-Do List’ For Crime: PA Man Tried Framing Neighbors In Bizarre Attempted Homicide Hoax: DA A Pennsylvania man is headed to prison after he tried to frame his neighbors for attempted homicide — and kept a handwritten “to-do list” of how to pull it off, authorities announced on Tuesday, June 18. Terry Sipe, 63, of Cumberland County, was sentenced to over seven months in prison followed by consecutive probation periods after pleading guilty to several charges in what the DA called an elaborate scheme. The sentence, handed down by Judge Michelle H. Sibert, went beyond the aggravated range of the sentencing guidelines due to the disturbing nature of the crimes, according to the Cumber…

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by Jillian Pikora
News
Don’t Answer If You Get This Call, FBI Says Don’t Answer If You Get This Call, FBI Says
Don’t Answer If You Get This Call, FBI Says If you get a call from someone claiming to be the FBI or another government agency and threatens arrest unless you pay up, hang up. Scammers across the country are impersonating federal authorities and spoofing legitimate government phone numbers in a rising wave of fraud, authorities say. Victims are being told they face immediate arrest unless they send money via prepaid gift cards, wire transfers, cash, or cryptocurrency. The threats are fake, but the financial losses are very real. Here’s how the scam works: Caller ID spoofing — Scammers manipulate phone numbers so it looks like the …

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by Joe Lombardi
Business
Scammers Using Trump Tariff Confusion To Trick Online Shoppers, BBB Warns Scammers Using Trump Tariff Confusion To Trick Online Shoppers, BBB Warns
Scammers Using Trump Tariff Confusion To Trick Online Shoppers, BBB Warns Scammers are using the confusion surrounding President Donald Trump's changing tariffs to cover up missing packages and ignore refund requests. The Better Business Bureau says it's seeing more reports of shady sellers blaming "tariffs" and "customs delays" when products don't arrive. In many cases, the sellers vanish after taking your money. The BBB has warned that shoppers aren't typically responsible for tariffs after buying online and it's a red flag if a seller says your item is stuck in customs due to tariffs. "After 2 months of not receiving my product I have…

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by Chris Spiker
News
Trio Of Cubans Living In NJ Caught In Credit Card Skimming Scheme In PA: DA Trio Of Cubans Living In NJ Caught In Credit Card Skimming Scheme In PA: DA
Trio Of Cubans Living In NJ Caught In Credit Card Skimming Scheme In PA: DA Three Cuban nationals living in New Jersey have been ordered to stand trial for an elaborate credit card skimming scheme that targeted gas station customers in Lancaster County, authorities announced on Thursday, June 5. Yosvel Gonzalez, 51, and Reinier Gracia-Martinez, 40, both of Elizabeth, NJ, along with Rudislandy Gracia-Toledo, 24, of North Bergen, NJ, are accused of installing hidden card skimmers at a gas station in the 1700 block of Hempstead Road in East Lampeter Township, then using stolen data to make thousands of dollars in purchases, according to the Lancaster County District At…

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by Jillian Pikora