CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — A quick-thinking truck driver helped uncover a multi-state tire scam that cost a Carlisle business more than $10,000, authorities say.

Torri Kugle, who was hired to transport tires from McCarthy Tire Service in Cumberland County to a supposed buyer in Maryland, said he began noticing red flags during the job.

^{Photo credit: Torri Kugle/local21news}

“I drove down there thinking I was going to a trucking company or a mechanic shop or something,” Kugle said. “It was a strip mall.”

Kugle told investigators the buyer had provided McCarthy Tire with multiple fake credit card numbers and a false ID. He was also instructed to delete the invoices for the transaction — an order that raised further suspicion.

When Kugle arrived in Maryland, the man receiving the tires refused to disclose their final destination. “Bigger companies like Swift or JB Hunt are not gonna call somebody and say, ‘Hey, can you go to this tire supplier and pick up our tires?’” Kugle explained. “They’re gonna have a supplier deliver them directly.”

He reported the situation, helping stop what authorities now describe as an elaborate scam that stretched across Pennsylvania and Maryland.

According to WHP-TV, Kugle advises other companies to take extra precautions: “Require that person to come to their location in person and either physically tap or swipe the card.”

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