Pittsburg, PA
Family of veteran allegedly scammed out of Steelers tickets
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A Pittsburgh woman planned to surprise her dad, a veteran with vision loss, with tickets to the Steelers’ ‘Immaculate Reception’ game less than two weeks away. Instead, she was tricked and lost her money and Christmas gift to an alleged scammer.
On Friday, Misty Traska opened a package that was supposed to contain tickets to the Dec. 23 Steelers game against the Bengals.
“When I opened it, this is what was in it: a blank piece of paper. No tickets, no nothing,” Traska said.
She was so excited. Her dad hadn’t gone to a game in years since moving out of state.
“Just a special moment between a daughter and a father, you know, getting to go to a game together, seeing the team that we love,” Traska said.
They also had never gone to a game together.
“I looked at Ticketmaster, but I couldn’t afford those prices,” Traska said.
Then, on Dec. 3, she found the perfect seats on Facebook Marketplace for them and two of her cousins, also vets, who were going to join them.
It wasn’t the first time she bought something through Facebook, and in messaging the seller, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“She was just really good at what she was doing,” Traska said.
However, after they paid through Zelle and the tickets didn’t come to their email, she reached out to the seller, who promised to overnight them.
“We were going to move forward. I was going to continue to plan to tailgate and everything with my cousins,” Traska said. “Then, everything just came crashing down.”
The envelope arrived the other day with no tickets, just that piece of paper.
“It was a big disappointment,” Traska said.
Traska sent an email to the seller, who replied, “I didn’t send a blank piece of paper. What are you talking about?”
Since then, Traska and her cousins filed reports to Facebook, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Trade Commission, Zelle, and their bank, Clearview Federal Credit Union.
Zelle responded to her by saying they “take these situations very seriously…” and that they will “investigate, and take further action if necessary.”
The bank told them they weren’t liable since it was a cash transaction.
Traska also said police haven’t been able to help.
“I think I was just so desperate for these tickets. [I] just acted too quickly in this situation,” Traska said.
Now, Traska wants to warn others before they fall into the same trap.
“It’s bad enough we lost money, and we got, you know, into this situation. I just don’t want anyone else, especially two weeks before Christmas, you know, getting into this kind of situation,” Traska said.
At some point, Traska hopes to get answers after filing multiple reports.
KDKA reached out to the attorney general and Facebook for comment but has not heard back at this time.
A spokesperson for Early Warning Services, LLC, the network provider of Zelle, provided KDKA with the following statement regarding potential reimbursement and policies when it comes to fraud:
In an effort to not tip off criminals, we do not share further intel on our reimbursement requirements, and given the dynamic nature of scams, we know they use many tactics to lure consumers. Zelle moves money directly into another enrolled recipient’s bank account. Zelle doesn’t guarantee protection for all authorized payments, so we recommend only using Zelle to pay people you know and trust.
The company also shared three tips for customers to avoid falling victim:
- Only send money to people you know and trust.
- Beware of payment scams – if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
- Treat Zelle like cash.
Clearview Federal Credit Union provided KDKA with the following statement:
When a member reports any type of fraudulent activity, Clearview’s policy is to work closely with each member to report these incidents to Zelle. Additionally, we are committed to regularly educating our members through blog posts and emails about proactive measures to avoid such incidents and stay vigilant. If you don’t know the person or aren’t sure you will get what you paid for (for example, items bought from an online bidding or sales site), you should not use Zelle for these types of transactions. These transactions are potentially high risk (just like sending cash to a person you don’t know is high risk).
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A man accused of carjacking another man in Pittsburgh was found shot following a traffic stop in the vehicle police said he stole.
Pittsburgh Police said Monday that officers were first called to the area of Friendship Avenue for a ShotSpotter alert and when they arrived at the scene, a man told them he had been carjacked by another man.
The man told police that during the carjacking, he fired two gunshots at the man, who then left the area in the stolen vehicle.
Police say they then issued an alert for the stolen vehicle, which was headed out of Pittsburgh, headed eastbound.
According to police, a short time later, Pitcairn Police saw a vehicle that matched the description from Pittsburgh Police that was driving erratically.
Police say officers from Pitcairn stopped the vehicle along Broadway Boulevard in Monroeville and found the driver had been shot in the arm and in the shoulder. Police say the man was identified as the suspect from the Friendship Avenue carjacking.
The man was taken to the hospital by paramedics and was last listed in stable condition.
Detectives from Pittsburgh Police’s Violent Crime Unit are handling the investigation.
PHILADELPHIA — The Pittsburgh Pirates concluded their road trip on the east coast and showed that they simply don’t have what it takes to contest with the best in baseball.
The Pirates faced both the New York Mets at Citi Field and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park and both teams shared a similarity: big payrolls.
The Mets have the highest payroll in the MLB at $323,099,999, marked by their record signing of free agent outfielder Juan Soto for $765 million over 15 years. The Phillies aren’t far behind at $284,210,820, the fourth highest in the MLB.
Pittsburgh has a payroll of $87,645,246, the fifth least in the MLB, and it showed on the field.
Both National League East Division Teams have star power and great depth throughout their rosters, which showed last season, as the Mets made the NLCS and the Phillies made the playoffs for the third straight season.
The Pirates haven’t made the playoffs since 2015 and have just one season above .500 since then. There is a lack of winning that extends from previous team and continues to now, due to poor free agent signings, no identity and poor execution during offseasons, drafts, etc.
Philadelphia and New York will both contend for a World Series this season and currently sit 28-18 and 29-17 overall, respectively. (Fill in). They both have done what is necessary to win and have the players and the team culture to achieve that goal.
The Pirates have just 15 wins from 47 games in 2025 and have the third worst record in baseball. They sit 13.0 games behind the Chicago Cubs at the top of the NL Central Division and the San Francisco Giants in the third NL Wild Card spot.
It’s only the middle of May, but the Pirates have lost this season and it’s going to get much worse before it gets better.
The Pirates have fought harder and gone after games better under new manager Don Kelly than prior manager Derek Shelton, but hitting the ball successfully and for runs remains a massive obstacle every single game.
Pittsburgh batted .192, 38-for-197, plus 4-for-38 with runners in scoring position over the six games against the Mets and Phillies. They also struck out 53 times, averaging nearly nine strikeouts per game.
The Pirates had two close losses to the Mets, 4-3 on a walk-off on May 12 and 2-1 on May 13, where they were 1-for-9 and 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, respectively.
They went 1-for-10 in the series against the Phillies with runners in scoring position, which included the 5-2 loss on May 17, where they had no runners in scoring position, with only a Bryan Reynolds two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning as the sole offense in the game.
None of this is much of a surprise for a team that has been terrible all season long from the plate, ranking towards the bottom of most statistics.
The Pirates rank tied for the worst batting average in the MLB at .217, along with the Chicago White Sox and the Colorado Rockies, at .217 and OPS at .619, along with the White Six, and possess the worst slugging percentage at .322. Their .297 on-base percentage is also fifth worst.
Pittsburgh has also not scored more than four runs in a game since a 9-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angels Stadium on April 23, a 23-game streak. That ties the 2022 Miami Marlins for the longest such streak in a season since at least 1980.
The Pirates offense doing so poorly runined some fantastic performances from the Pirates pitching staff.
Paul Skenes allowed just one run, plus six hits and three walks, while posting six strikeouts over six innings vs. the Mets on May 12 and then just one run, a walk and only three hits, while tying his season-high of nine strikeouts in eight innings against the Phillies on May 18, for his first complete game of his career.
Mitch Keller also excelled in his start vs. the Mets on May 13, where he allowed five hits, two walks and two earned runs and posted a season high eight strikeouts over seven innings.
All three of those games the Pirates have lost and it’s a trend that the team has had this season, with lack of support for great outings from their starting pitching.
They’ve suffered defeat in seven of 10 games that Skenes has pitched in, despite only allowing 17 earned runs, and have lost seven of the nine games that Keller started. The Pirates have scored 24 runs for Keller and 32 runs for Skenes, averaging to 2.7 and 3.2 runs per start, respectively.
Pittsburgh has not supported their two best pitchers and for fans, it’s understandbly a massive source of frustation for a season they expected improvement and growth.
The Pirates got two important players back from injury in their series vs. the Phillies in first baseman Spencer Horwitz and center fielder Oneil Cruz
Horwitz missed all of Spring Training and the entire MLB season up until this past weekend with a right wrist injury. He did two rehab assignments at both Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianpolis prior to his return.
Cruz missed almost a week with lower back pain after an awkward slide attempt against the Atlanta Braves on May 10. He was day-to-day, but is now back in the starting lineup.
Horwitz went 1-for-6 with a strikeout, starting the past two games at first base, while Oneil Cruz went 0-for-9 and struckout eight times, including four in the shutout defeat to end the series.
The Pirates will need patience with both Horwitz and Cruz, who will look to regain form on the field and at the plate going forward.
Make sure to visit Pirates OnSI for the latest news, updates, interviews and insight on the Pittsburgh Pirates
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