NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. — Police have issued an arrest warrant for a man accused of selling fake high-end trading cards in North Huntingdon Township.
According to the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office, a man reported buying what he thought were four rare trading cards being sold on Facebook Marketplace in January.
He met with the seller at Norwin Town Square later that month and paid $15,000 for the cards.
But when he took the cards to a resale shop, employees told him they were fake, the DA’s office says.
When the victim tried to contact the seller, he was reportedly blocked on Facebook and by phone.
North Huntingdon police found that the seller — identified as Joel Brown, 21, of Germantown, Md. — was allegedly involved with multiple other trading card scams around Virginia.
Police used geolocation data to reveal that Brown drove from West Virginia to North Huntington and was in Norwin Town Square when the exchange happened, the DA’s office says.
Online court records show Brown is charged with theft by false deception, receiving stolen property and simulating objects of anqituity/rarity.
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