Woman accused of peddling fake Magic: The Gathering cards at Greensburg store

Jillian Noel Yohe visited Pop! Culture Connection in Greensburg just before it closed Friday to sell some Magic: The Gathering cards, according to police.

Owner Jeremy Fairgrieve paid her $1,000 despite some reservations about their authenticity.

A nagging gut feeling prompted Fairgrieve to look a little closer at the potentially valuable cards when he got home.

He said he found they lacked a trademark small rosette pattern visible only through a magnifying glass.

“If it doesn’t have that rosette pattern, that’s a dead giveaway that it’s a fake,” Fairgrieve said

He’d been had — but luck was still on his side.

While Fairgrieve was at the Greensburg police station making a report the next day, Yohe, 21, of Finleyville contacted him to sell a rare Magic: The Gathering card — the Black Lotus — for $2,500.

Police set up a sting and arrested her, according to court papers.

During an interview with police, Yohe said she was “out of work and was desperate for money,” according to court papers. Yohe allegedly told investigators she made a plan with a friend to sell fake Magic cards for cash and give him 40% of the profits.

She is charged with attempted theft by deception, theft, forgery and simulating objects of antiquity or rarity.

Magic: The Gathering is a trading card game that started in the 1990s. Each card has abilities that can help a player defeat their opponent. Tournaments are held around the world, and the trading cards can be valuable.

Pop! Culture Connection, a vintage hobby shop, recently put out an advertisement that they were buying Magic and other trading cards, Fairgrieve said. The store, which specializes in toys and comics from the turn of the 20th century onward, has been open on East Pittsburgh Street for 11 years.

“She probably saw an advertisement, saw an opportunity to start somewhere and I consider myself very knowledgeable in the business. I’ve been at it for awhile, but she did get one by me,” he said.

A Black Lotus card recently sold for $166,000 on eBay, according to gaming website Polygon.

“These Magic cards, some of the early ones, are very collectible,” Fairgrieve said, adding their value can range from $5,000 to $30,000.

There are three tests to evaluate the authenticity of Magic cards:

• Shine a light through the card — a fake card will let barely any light through.

• Use a magnifying glass — fake cards will not have the rosette pattern. On authentic cards, the black ink will not be pixelated because it is the last color to be printed.

• Rip a card in half — real cards will have a thin blue line, almost like a pen mark, through the inside.

“Always go with your gut, that would be my words of wisdom,” Fairgrieve said.

Yohe did not have an attorney listed in online court records. A phone number for her could not be located.

A summons has been issued. A preliminary hearing is set for May 23.

(Editor’s note: A brief summary of this story that appeared on the front page of the print edition on Friday, April 19, 2019 contained incorrect information.)