"Grinch" Steals $500k By Selling New-Gen Consoles That Never Arrived

Over a year on from the release of the PS5 and the Xbox Series X/S, I feel like I still know barely any people who’ve actually managed to get their hands on either of them, myself included. Even so, it was definitely a lot worse this time last year with them only being out for about a month, and everyone and their grandma trying to bag themselves one in time for Christmas, competing with all the scalpers and scammers in the process. 

Well, thankfully there’s at least some justice in the world, as one such scammer from New Jersey has been sued by authorities in New York, after advertising, but failing to deliver, around $500K worth new-gen consoles. Yikes.

Ever since their release, PlayStation 5 scalpers have been relentless, making it harder for everyone to get their hands on the console.

The scammer, Tandria Faulkner, took orders for the consoles in autumn last year, but most of her customers failed to receive the items on time, if at all. Faulkner ignored requests for refunds, and most of the time, never sent the items at all. Way to spread the Christmas cheer! 

“Today’s court order stops this grinch from ruining any more holidays this year, and our lawsuit seeks to recoup everything paid for game consoles that were never received,” said New York Attorney General, Letitia James. “Despite false promises of PlayStations, Xboxes, and other high-end items, Tandria Faulkner and her companies were not able to deliver and only stole Christmas from numerous families.”

The judge’s order bans the scammer from taking any orders for items Faulkner isn’t in direct possession of (usually handy, when you’re trying to sell something), and the attorney general’s office also obtained a temporary restraining order, which freezes bank accounts associated with Faulkner and her businesses. 

So, that’s at the very least one festive fiend taken out of action this year, and I think we can all agree that the less scammers populating the new-gen console market, the better. That said, stock issues are still very much a thing - the PS5 chip shortage is set to last for another year, at least, which is far from ideal when Sony wants to sell them and everyone wants to buy them. Congratulations to anyone does manage to get their hands on one for Christmas - I’m definitely not jealous at all.

Topics: Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PlayStation 5, Xbox, PlayStation