ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A popular YouTuber says a scammer posed as him to trick companies into sending him tens of thousands of dollars worth of electric bikes.
Seth Alvo says he likes the freedom that bicycles give you.
“I like feeling like a kid,” he told Action 9 attorney Jason Stoogenke. “When you’re 10 years old and you just have the wind in your hair and you are flying down the trail or down the road. I never got sick of it.”
He lives near Asheville. He’s a content creator and a big one: roughly three million subscribers on YouTube.
He said someone pretended to be him — imitating his email account, his writing style, and even more (for example, his business analytics) — he assumes with the help of A.I. After all, there’s more than enough material of him online to draw from.
“Even when A.I. was brand new, if you told it, ‘Hey, write this in the style of George Orwell,’ it could do it,” he said. “So, if it can do that, it can write in the style of me for sure.”
Alvo says, then, the imposter emailed bike companies in his name.
“If you are a creator, often times companies will send you things to review. Sometimes it’s paid. Sometimes they just send it to you and you do what you want with it,” Alvo said. “He was reaching out, pretending to be me, saying, ‘Hey, I’d really like to take a look at this bike. Can you mail it to me so I can review it?’”
Alvo says the criminal landed roughly $50,000 worth of e-bikes.
“Presumably, he figured he could get these and unload them and make a bunch of money,” he said.
But, then, a turn: some of the businesses ended up getting in touch with the real Alvo and his communications manager, Daniel Sapp.
“We didn’t know what we were getting into,” Sapp told Stoogenke.
They say they’ve dealt with scammers before, but nothing like this.
“Anytime this happens, there’s a mix of annoyance and relief. OK, I’m annoyed, but at least we caught it, we can tell this company not to go any further,” Alvo said. “This time, it was a little bit of excitement because we’re like hold on, this keeps happening, but this is from the same place, we can actually catch the guy this time and send an example.”
So Sapp did some detective work. He asked the companies to play along with the scammer and send Sapp some of the email exchanges.
“We were able to find out where they were delivering the bikes. We had tracking numbers and everything,” Alvo said.
They say the address led them to a house in Greensboro.
“We were able to work together to piece together this big puzzle,” Sapp said.
And Sapp did something else, something proactive. He warned other companies he feared may fall victim. He says one told him: too late, they had already shipped the order. But there was a silver lining. Sapp says the business gave him the address and it was the same as the one Alvo and Sapp already had.
“They had all matched up,” Sapp said. “Everything started coming full circle.”
He and Alvo then told Greensboro police.
“They were able to piece everything together and finally all added up,” Sapp said.
“When the investigator drove by his house, they were just out on the porch,” Alvo said.
Officers arrested a suspect.
“It was an amazing feeling of success,” Alvo said. “They never get caught.”
He added, “Finally, we got someone. And so that’s an example. You can get caught.”
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Police charged Jeffrey Holden with multiple counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. Action 9 emailed the suspect’s lawyer to get the defendant’s side of the story. He didn’t respond in time for this report.
Alvo says about 12 businesses fell victim, but that all’s not lost.
“All the bikes will be going back to the companies after the investigation is over, which is kind of great because the companies, they lost time, they lost shipping fees, but at least they’re going to get their merchandise back,” Alvo said.
If you’re an influencer:
- Take steps to protect yourself. Periodically remind your audience whether you endorse products and what platforms you use.
- If a platform allows you to “verify” your identity, do so, even if you have to pay for it.
As for the rest of us:
- Be suspicious. Remember: the person you’re following or hearing from... may not really be that person. It may even be A.I.
- If you aren’t sure, reach out to the person through another platform or email. In short: double-check.
Greensboro police wouldn’t discuss a pending investigation, but emailed Stoogenke advice they wanted to share with consumers as well:
Tips to help avoid becoming a victim of email scams or identity theft:
- Be skeptical of unexpected emails, especially those creating urgency/time sensitive (threats, prize winnings, account closures).
- Verify the sender by checking the email address carefully and contacting the organization directly using official contact details.
- Avoid clicking links or opening attachments in unsolicited emails; instead, navigate directly to the organization’s official website.
- Never share sensitive information (passwords, PINs, personal or financial details) via email.
- Keep software and devices up to date, including antivirus and operating system updates.
- Use strong, unique passwords and a password manager where possible.
If you believe you are the victim of an email scam:
- Stop engaging immediately with the suspicious email. Do not click links, download attachments, or reply.
- Change passwords for any affected accounts as soon as possible, especially email, banking, and other sensitive services. Use strong, unique passwords.
- Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on accounts where it’s available.
- Monitor financial accounts and credit reports for unusual or unauthorized activity.
- Report the incident:
- To the organization being impersonated
- To your office’s IT/security team
- To local law enforcement, federal law enforcement
- Be cautious of follow-up messages, as scammers often attempt repeat contact once someone has been targeted.
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