Montgomery County Man Charged In $250K Hard Drive Return Scam
July 2, 2025
By Dan Doyle-A man from Montgomery County is facing serious criminal allegations for allegedly orchestrating a fraudulent return scheme that resulted in a major technology company being defrauded of over $250,000, as per state investigators.
Kwan Woo Lee, aged 29 and a resident of Wyncote, was charged on Wednesday with theft by unlawful taking, corrupt organizations, access device fraud, receiving stolen property, and other related offenses following an investigation by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General that spanned a year and targeted Seagate Technology.
Reportedly, Lee purchased hard drives from Seagate and repeatedly made claims that the products were damaged. Subsequently, the company issued replacements with the expectation that the original drives would be returned. However, officials assert that Lee never returned the operational drives, choosing instead to sell numerous units on the secondary market for personal gain.
Attorney General Dave Sunday remarked, “This defendant exploited a company’s warranty program to deliberately defraud the company and generate profits — an act of theft. Thanks to the diligent efforts of my Financial Crimes Section, we managed to halt this individual from perpetuating this scheme.”
Allegedly, Lee utilized prepaid debit cards to carry out at least 30 fraudulent returns and provided 18 different shipping addresses across Montgomery and Butler counties to obtain over 400 hard drives. Due to the nature of prepaid cards, wherein charges cannot be levied unless a product is returned, Seagate was unable to recoup the costs of the devices.
Investigators traced various email accounts and phone numbers linked to the warranty claims directly back to Lee. Lee was presented in court on Wednesday afternoon, with bail set at $50,000, and a preliminary hearing scheduled for July 10. The case continues to be probed by the Financial Crimes Section of the Attorney General’s office.
Note: Criminal charges, and any reporting thereof, are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.