WYNCOTE, PA — A Montgomery County man has been charged in a $250,000 hard drive scam targeting global tech company Seagate Technology, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced on July 2.
Kwan Woo Lee, 29, of Wyncote, allegedly exploited Seagate’s warranty return program by purchasing hundreds of hard drives, filing false warranty claims, and never returning the items. Instead, investigators say he resold the fully functional drives on the secondary market for profit.
Seagate’s policy allows customers to receive replacement drives in advance, as long as the defective item is later returned. According to the Attorney General’s Office, Lee repeatedly abused this policy by:
Using fake names and email addresses
Sending the drives to 18 different addresses across Montgomery and Butler counties
Paying with prepaid credit cards to avoid post-return charges
Authorities say the scheme was repeated more than 30 times, netting Lee over 400 hard drives.
“This defendant took advantage of a company’s warranty program to intentionally defraud the company and make money — that is theft,” said AG Dave Sunday. “Thanks to the hard work of my Financial Crimes Section, we were able to stop this defendant from continuing on with this scheme.”
Lee was arraigned on Wednesday, July 2, and bail was set at $50,000. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 10.
He faces several charges including:
Corrupt Organizations
Theft by Unlawful Taking
Receiving Stolen Property
Access Device Fraud
Deputy Attorney General Noelle Wilkinson will prosecute the case.
