WEST NEWTON, Pa. — Officials with the Collinsburg Volunteer Fire Company are putting out a warning about tickets sold for a bingo event. They said someone is trying to scam people online by posing as fire officials and pocketing the money.
“We’re very disappointed we have to worry about these things,” said assistant chief Craig Haley.
Haley posted to the department’s Facebook page to warn people about the scam. Tickets were already sold out for their Valentine’s Day bingo event.
“We definitely don’t want to have anyone taken advantage of,” Haley said.
He said the person behind a fake page promoting the event claims to have extra tickets and will take an online payment, but never produces an actual ticket. The bingo event was capped at 250 people due to COVID-19 restrictions so there were only 250 tickets to sell. Haley said he knows of two people who have fallen victim so far.
“Obviously, depending on how many tickets the person was trying to purchase, it could escalate to several hundred dollars very quickly,” Haley said.
He said the Fire Company doesn’t have the money to issue refunds if someone does fall victim, but they do want people to know its out there. People who show up to the bingo event will not be allowed in if they have a counterfeit ticket.
Rostraver police said they are looking into the scam.
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