(WHTM)– A Pennsylvania towing company owner is accused of scamming around $300,000 from customers for short-trip tows, the Attorney General announced.

Vincent Fannick, 56, who owns Vince’s Towing, a tow truck company in Pittsburgh, would charge customers extremely high tow costs by not revealing prices on invoices and then charge “accident service fees,” a news release from the AG says.

Those fees added up to more than $100,000 for the 27 victims, the AG says.

“This defendant allegedly preyed on consumers already in stressful situations, first by hiding costs when asking for invoice signatures, then by inflating prices for short tow jobs,” Attorney General Henry said in a statement. “Predatory, deceptive business practices will not be tolerated in the Commonwealth, and business owners who harm consumers to line their pockets will be held accountable.”

The investigation began in 2023 when a consumer reported their insurance company was charged over $11,000 for a short-trip tow that wasn’t even requested. Out of that amount, $4,250 was designated as an “accident services” fee, the release states.

Following that, the AG says law enforcement found 26 other consumers who were subjected to the same scam from Feb. 2023 to Feb. 2024. Owners were charged between $9,460 and $13,105 for single, short-trip tows.

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Fannick allegedly charged $9,805 for a tow that was only one-third of a mile for one consumer.

Fannick was charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors including 27 counts of insurance fraud, theft by deception, theft by unlawful taking, and securing execution of documents by deception.

Fannick was placed in prison with bail set at $25,000 after he was arraigned. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 3.

In Bucks County, the AG says a tow company was charged with inflating costs in December.

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