CrimeDec 20, 2022
The Biggest Security Mistakes Jewelers Are Making Right NowCrimeJan 04, 2023
How a Jeweler Lost $1.6M in Less than 24 Hours
Joyce’s Jewelry in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, is suing PNC Bank after cybercriminals emptied its accounts through a series of wire transfers.
Joyce’s Jewelry in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, is suing PNC Bank after cybercriminals stole more than $1.6 million from its accounts via unauthorized wire transfers. (Image courtesy of Joyce’s Jewelers Facebook page)
Uniontown, Pa.—The owners of Joyce’s Jewelry in the Pittsburgh-area city of Uniontown are suing PNC Bank after cybercriminals emptied its accounts of nearly $1.6 million through a series of wire transfers.
The retailer filed the lawsuit in October accusing PNC Bank of failing to keep its money safe. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette covered the suit in a story published Monday.
The theft took place on the afternoon of May 12, 2022.
According to court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, a jewelry store employee accidentally logged into a phony website made to look like PNC Bank’s website.
She noticed the website wasn’t loading properly and called the customer service number she found on the spoofed webpage. She was advised to be patient as the website was slow that day, something she said PNC had told her before, court documents state.
Soon after, the store’s internet service went down. Then the employee and Joyce’s Jewelry CEO Brandon Katzeff experienced a “subscription attack,” meaning they started receiving hundreds of emails every hour making it difficult to tell which are genuine.
That night, PNC sent Katzeff an email, alerting him to “two small but suspicious charges” on one of the store’s credit cards. He called PNC’s fraud prevention service line and canceled the credit card.
In the lawsuit, Joyce’s claims no mention was made of any other suspicious activity or the multiple wire transfers made that day.
The next morning, after IT services restored the store’s internet service, Katzeff realized the company accounts had been hacked and he reached out to PNC Bank.
Using the employee’s login credentials obtained from the phishing website, cybercriminals had emptied all four of the store’s accounts through 11 wire transfers over a period of 20 hours.
In total, around $1.6 million was transferred from the jeweler’s PNC accounts to the hackers’ accounts at JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.
Later that day, a PNC cyber fraud analyst emailed Katzeff about an attempted wire transfer of more than $105,000. It was the last of nearly a dozen unauthorized wire transfers and the only one flagged by the bank, the lawsuit claims.
The analyst told Joyce’s the bank held no responsibility for the losses and advised Katzeff to contact law enforcement and the beneficiary banks.
PNC Bank has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and, through a spokesperson, said it believes it took the right steps in regard to the transactions.
“While PNC regrets any losses incurred by a customer, we disagree with the allegations in this case and believe we acted appropriately with respect to the transactions,” a PNC Bank spokesperson said in a statement to National Jeweler.
Related stories will be right here …
The retailer filed the lawsuit in October accusing PNC Bank of failing to keep its money safe. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette covered the suit in a story published Monday.
The theft took place on the afternoon of May 12, 2022.
According to court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, a jewelry store employee accidentally logged into a phony website made to look like PNC Bank’s website.
She noticed the website wasn’t loading properly and called the customer service number she found on the spoofed webpage. She was advised to be patient as the website was slow that day, something she said PNC had told her before, court documents state.
Soon after, the store’s internet service went down. Then the employee and Joyce’s Jewelry CEO Brandon Katzeff experienced a “subscription attack,” meaning they started receiving hundreds of emails every hour making it difficult to tell which are genuine.
That night, PNC sent Katzeff an email, alerting him to “two small but suspicious charges” on one of the store’s credit cards. He called PNC’s fraud prevention service line and canceled the credit card.
In the lawsuit, Joyce’s claims no mention was made of any other suspicious activity or the multiple wire transfers made that day.
The next morning, after IT services restored the store’s internet service, Katzeff realized the company accounts had been hacked and he reached out to PNC Bank.
Using the employee’s login credentials obtained from the phishing website, cybercriminals had emptied all four of the store’s accounts through 11 wire transfers over a period of 20 hours.
In total, around $1.6 million was transferred from the jeweler’s PNC accounts to the hackers’ accounts at JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.
Later that day, a PNC cyber fraud analyst emailed Katzeff about an attempted wire transfer of more than $105,000. It was the last of nearly a dozen unauthorized wire transfers and the only one flagged by the bank, the lawsuit claims.
The analyst told Joyce’s the bank held no responsibility for the losses and advised Katzeff to contact law enforcement and the beneficiary banks.
PNC Bank has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and, through a spokesperson, said it believes it took the right steps in regard to the transactions.
“While PNC regrets any losses incurred by a customer, we disagree with the allegations in this case and believe we acted appropriately with respect to the transactions,” a PNC Bank spokesperson said in a statement to National Jeweler.
Joyce’s Jewelry disagrees.
The transfers should have raised a red flag for PNC, the jeweler said in its lawsuit, noting the money was moved to accounts and businesses it had never sent money to before.
The wire amounts were also far above the usual transaction amounts by tens of thousands of dollars per wire. Joyce’s had never wired close to a million dollars in one day.
The wires also exceeded the funds available, leading to an overdraft charge of nearly $200,000 for a customer that, to the best of Joyce’s knowledge, had not overdrawn on an account before.
“The bank’s failures here are stark and should shock and frighten small business customers who believe their accounts and accumulated savings are secure with PNC,” court documents state.
“PNC’s failures allowed substantially all the liquidity that Joyce’s had managed to accumulate over decades to be stolen in less than 24 hours.”
The bank has also not provided the jeweler with information about how to recoup its losses, said Joyce’s, and allegedly kept the owners in the dark about what was being done to recover the money.
The jeweler was also directed to a third-party collection agency to demand repayment of the overdraft fees and could be billed for “corporate analysis charges” as PNC looks into the theft.
The family-owned business was founded by Joyce Katzeff in the early 1970s. It began as a small store in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, later expanding to a 7,000-square-foot location.
The company has banked with PNC and banks acquired by PNC since its founding and implemented the recommended security features on its “Pinacle” online and mobile banking platform.
The wire procedures and security protocol for Joyce’s requires multi-factor and dual-control authorization to send wires, the jeweler said in the suit, but the thieves got into their accounts using just one employee’s login information.
The suit notes that some of the money has been recovered, including an anticipated, unspecified “partial” recovery from Bank of America and more than $224,000 from JPMorgan.
However, PNC withdrew around $192,000 to pay itself for the overdraft, interest, and fees.
Joyce’s losses stand at around $1.1 million as of October 2022.
In addition to the financial loss, Joyce’s said it has struggled to run its jewelry store with minimal cash and frozen accounts.
Its employees and vendors were also unable to cash or deposit their paychecks and payments.
The retailer has had to change its purchasing practices, the suit states, causing it to lose out on discounts from trade show purchases.
And Joyce’s senior management has had to shift focus from the business to its financial issues.
The jeweler is asking the court to order PNC Bank to refund all of its stolen money and overdraft fees as well as award it damages.
More on Crime
The Latest
AuctionsFeb 26, 2026
Noonans to Auction Lady Wardington’s JewelryThe jewelry collection belonged to “one of society's most glamorous and beautiful women of the mid-20th century,” said the auction house.
SourcingFeb 26, 2026
Anglo American CEO Gives Insight Into De Beers SaleThe update came as Anglo took its third write-down on the diamond miner and marketer, which lost more than $500 million in 2025.
ColumnistsFeb 26, 2026
Practical Ways Jewelers Can Leverage AI in 2026Emmanuel Raheb discusses the rise of “GEO” and the importance of having well-written, quality content on your website.
Brought to you by
Is This You? Every Jeweler Has This Problem; We Have the Solution.Every jeweler faces the same challenge: helping customers protect what they love. Here’s the solution designed for today’s jewelry business.
Events & AwardsFeb 26, 2026
GIA Names 2026 Jewelry Design Contest Winner, Retires Annual AwardCatherine Aulick, a GIA graduate, received the ninth and final Gianmaria Buccellati Foundation Award for Excellence in Jewelry Design.
Weekly QuizFeb 26, 2026
This Week’s QuizTest your jewelry news knowledge by answering these questions.
TrendsFeb 25, 2026
Engagement Ring Trends 2026: What’s In, and WhyWe asked a jewelry historian, designer, bridal director, and wedding expert what’s trending in engagement rings. Here’s what they said.
SourcingFeb 25, 2026
7 Trends That Could Define the Diamond Industry’s FutureExperts from India weigh in the politics, policies, and market dynamics for diamantaires to monitor in 2026 and beyond.
Brought to you by
DCA Enters a New Chapter in Jewelry EducationWith refreshed branding, a new website, updated courses, and a pathway for growth, DCA is dedicated to supporting retail staff development.
EditorsFeb 25, 2026
Q&A: Brilliant Earth’s CEO on the New Beverly Hills StoreBeth Gerstein discusses the vibe of the new store, what customers want when fine jewelry shopping today, and the details of “Date Night.”
PodcastsFeb 25, 2026
Episode 2: Jewelry Trends & Does the Red Carpet Matter?Are arm bands poised to make a comeback? Has red-carpet jewelry become boring? Find out on the second episode of the “My Next Question” podcast.
WatchesFeb 25, 2026
Private Equity Firms Write Down Value of Breitling, Report SaysThe Swiss watchmaker is battling declining sales amid a rapid retail expansion, according to a Financial Times report.
CollectionsFeb 25, 2026
Rahaminov Diamonds’ New Campaign Honors Its MatriarchThe campaign celebrates Giustina Pavanello Rahaminov, the co-founder’s wife and matriarch of the family-owned brand, for her 88th birthday.
IndependentsFeb 25, 2026
Borsheims Names 2025 ‘Ike-It’ Award WinnerRachel Bennett, a senior jeweler who has been with Borsheims since 2004, earned the award.
Policies & IssuesFeb 24, 2026
IEEPA Tariffs Terminated, New 10% Tariff Already ImposedAfter the Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs, President Trump imposed a 10 percent tax on almost all imports via a different law.
IndependentsFeb 24, 2026
Sherry Smith Now Principal Partner at The Retail SmithsThe industry veteran, who was with The Edge Retail Academy for 14 years, joins her husband at the company he founded in 2022.
IndependentsFeb 24, 2026
Yafa Signed Jewels to Open Store in MiamiThe vintage signed jewelry retailer chose Miami due to growing client demand in the city and the greater Latin American region.
WatchesFeb 24, 2026
Chrono24 Names New VP, U.S. General ManagerFormer Flight Club executive Jin Lee will bring his experience from the sneaker world to the pre-owned watch marketplace.
SourcingFeb 23, 2026
Designer Eddie Sakamoto, a Humble Artist, Dies at 72Sakamoto, who died in mid-January following a sudden illness, is remembered for his humility and his masterful, architectural designs.
Events & AwardsFeb 23, 2026
NYCJAOS Announces Four-Day Spring ShowThe April event will feature a new VIP shopping day requiring a special ticket.
TrendsFeb 23, 2026
Dua Lipa Is Bulgari’s New AmbassadorBulgari chose the British-Albanian singer-songwriter for her powerful and enduring voice in contemporary culture, the jeweler said.
Policies & IssuesFeb 20, 2026
Supreme Court Rules Against Most of President Trump’s TariffsIn a 6-3 ruling, the court said the president exceeded his authority when imposing sweeping tariffs under IEEPA.
ColumnistsFeb 20, 2026
Peter Smith: Happiness, Cavemen, and Jewelry SalesSmith encourages salespeople to ask customers questions that elicit the release of oxytocin, the brain’s “feel-good” chemical.
MajorsFeb 20, 2026
Jewelers Vigilance Committee Names Julie Yoakum Board ChairJVC also announced the election of five new board members.
CollectionsFeb 20, 2026
Boucheron’s ‘Faisceaux’ Brooch Heads to V&A MuseumThe brooch, our Piece of the Week, shows the chromatic spectrum through a holographic coating on rock crystal.
IndependentsFeb 19, 2026
Bailey’s Fine Jewelry Co-Founder ‘Mama Ann’ Bailey Dies at 100Raised in an orphanage, Bailey was 18 when she met her husband, Clyde. They opened their North Carolina jewelry store in 1948.
IndependentsFeb 19, 2026
Material Good Opens Third Location Material Good is celebrating its 10th anniversary as it opens its new store in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston.
Events & AwardsFeb 19, 2026
The Original Miami Beach Antique Show Returns in MarchThe show will be held March 26-30 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
