Bridal fair scammer pleads guilty

A Pittsburgh woman who defrauded at least 200 wedding vendors as well as thousands of brides-to-be pleaded guilty Oct. 8 to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to the Boston Herald. Karen Tucker was alleged to have set up a fake business called Boston 411 and a website that promoted a wedding fair that never existed. Through a PayPal account set up under a stolen identity, people planning weddings paid her $15 per ticket to attend the wedding fair, while she charged vendors between $350 and $4,000 to reserve booths at the nonexistent show. Prosecutors said that Tucker planned to expand the scheme to Ohio, Maryland, Nevada, Florida and Texas.