A Massachusetts woman thought she was making a kind-hearted donation to help gun violence victims, but instead fell victim to a sophisticated scam that drained $5,000 from her bank account.
Arianna Billias, 30, was grocery shopping at a Trader Joe's outside of Boston last fall when she was approached by a person posing as a charity worker. The scammer, armed with a clipboard and detailed information, claimed to be collecting donations for victims of gun violence.
'It was pretty quick. They were out there, they had their clipboards and gave a lot of information,' Billias told WCVB. Trusting the individual, she willingly provided her credit card to make a $20 donation. However, red flags soon emerged.
'I felt like something was wrong once the card was out of my own physical hands,' she said. The scammer told Billias there had been a 'processing issue' and snatched the credit card from her grasp. When she checked the Bank of America app shortly after, Billias noticed that $5,000 had been deducted from her Mastercard balance and paid to an unfamiliar PayPal account.
She immediately contacted her bank to dispute the charge, but her case was denied three times. Bank of America informed her that it had confirmed her card was used for the suspicious transaction, stating, 'The chip was read, your PIN was entered, and/or you signed for the merchandise or service.' However, Billias requested documentation of the bank's findings and noticed that neither a proof of PIN nor a signature slip was provided.
Billias, a Bank of America customer for 12 years, expressed frustration. 'Ultimately, it felt like it was my word versus the scammers in this case and they did not side with me,' she said. She submitted evidence showing that the merchant was listed with a Chicago address while the charge was categorized as 'in-person,' and other charges from the same day proved she was shopping in Somerville, Massachusetts. The merchant name on the suspicious PayPal account also changed multiple times.
'I couldn't find any documentation that this merchant exists as a business,' she said. 'I don't know what else I could do to resolve this after the fact.'
Ultimately, Billias filed a police report, which helped push the credit card company to reconsider her case. Bank of America reopened the dispute and finally refunded her $5,000 last month. According to their website, transactions with Bank of America must be disputed within 60 days, and the company recommends resolving disputes with the merchant before filing a claim.
The Daily Mail contacted Billias, Bank of America, and the Somerville Police Department for comment.
