12-05-2025
Pittsburgh-area man accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of trading cards
A Pittsburgh-area man is facing charges, accused of stealing thousands of dollars' worth of sports trading cards from two collectors. He promised to get them professionally graded, but never delivered.
Card trading experts say, unfortunately, this kind of scam is all too common. They warn collectors not to trust just anyone with valuable cards. Once a card or payment is gone, they say you're likely not getting it back.
According to a criminal complaint, Gregory Orosz of White Oak agreed to take 54 trading cards and grading fees from two individuals to have them professionally authenticated. But police say he never followed through, getting away with $47,000 worth of sports cards and grading fees.
Owner of trading card store explains how grading works
While R.J. Kowalski, the owner of Greentree Sports Cards, is not connected to the case, he spoke with KDKA-TV about how the grading process works.
"People, customers, can send cards off to these grading companies and they give them a numerical value, one through 10," said Kowalski. "You're hoping to get a 10 — that'd be perfect, mint condition. When that happens, the card doubles, triples, even more in value."
But instead of submitting the cards for grading, police say Orosz told the victims the process was "overwhelming," and claimed he dropped the cards off at a Westmoreland County shop. That was not true after contacting the shop. In fact, four of the cards were sold to a known dealer. The rest are still missing.
"It is easy to get away with in this business because there's nothing to differentiate one card from the other," Kowalski said.
"You can come in and say, 'that's my card,' but there's no way to prove it."
KDKA reached out to Orosz for comment. He declined to provide an explanation, only saying his attorney is handling the matter. On social media, Orosz has posted photos of trading cards and advertised online sales.
Experts warn that while online collector groups can be a great resource, they also come with risk.
"Ninety-nine percent of them are great," said Kowalski. "But there's also that one percent, and it's easy to scam someone online."
So far, only one victim has recovered six of the 54 cards. The rest are still unaccounted for.
In text messages obtained by police, Orosz allegedly admitted he was going through personal struggles and promised to pay the victims back.
What's the safest way to get your cards graded?
But in a case like this, what's the safest way to get your cards graded?
"You can do it yourself. You can go on the websites and send the cards in yourself. Don't go through anybody, that is by far the safest way," said Kowalski.
"Once the card is out of your hands, there is no way to mark it. So, if someone else gets that card, there's no way to prove that was yours," he said.
Kowalski recommends working directly with reputable card shops if help is needed. As for this case, the victims have not been publicly identified, but Gregory Orosz now faces eight charges.
