A Schuylkill County woman says she was scammed out of $2,700 when she tried to purchase four World Series tickets on Facebook Marketplace several years ago.
State Police say this investigation began in December 2022 when a woman came to the Schuylkill Haven barracks claiming she’d sent $2,700 for four tickets to a World Series game between the Phillies and Houston Astros earlier that year.
The woman never received the tickets.
She said she contacted a Marketplace seller who went by the name Alice Rose regarding a listing for four tickets to the World Series. When the Schuylkill County woman inquired about the tickets, Rose said she’d need to consult her husband, Billy Jo Vanzandt, 45, of Omaha, Nebraska.
Rose reportedly told the woman that she’d gotten the Fall Classic tickets from her boss but couldn’t attend the game. The victim told police she sent Rose $2,700 for the tickets to the seller’s bank account on Oct. 24, 2022.
After sending the money, the local woman said she never got the tickets and Rose, the seller, had deleted her Facebook account.
The victim said she contacted Vanzandt via Facebook Messenger about the tickets but he reportedly just gave her excuses as to why the tickets were never sent.
Police say that on Dec. 6, 2024, they subpoenaed banking information on the account where the money for the tickets was sent. On Feb. 6, police say they got information on the account tracing it back to Vanzandt.
Attempts to contact Vanzandt were unsuccessful, police say. They add that a background check on Vanzandt reportedly shows he’s got active warrants for his arrest in Minnesota and Missouri on theft and fraud charges.
For this incident in Schuylkill County, Vanzandt is facing felony theft and receiving stolen property charges.
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