Lasell University student bought Tesla after stealing $547,000 in credit card scam, police say
BURLINGTON - A 19-year-old Lasell University student is accused of stealing more than half-a-million dollars in a credit card scam.
Ariel Foster of Boston was arrested Wednesday and is now charged with larceny. Police said she refunded a total of $547,187 in eight transactions at her job at Lovisa, a jewelry store in the Burlington Mall.
"An investigation determined that on three dates in February, items scanned at the register had their price increased, and the cost of the item was then allegedly refunded to a credit card belonging to Foster," Burlington Police said in a statement Thursday.
Investigators said Foster was at the store during all of the illegal transactions.
When they checked her bank account they said she bought a Tesla for more than $35,000, spent more than $20,000 on a hotel in Maui, Hawaii, almost $6,000 on Delta Air Lines tickets and nearly $5,000 on Louis Vuitton items.
"Greed took over. I don't know how else I would classify it." said Burlington Police Chief Tom Browne. "When I saw the age I was surprised as well and when I first saw the amount I thought it was a mistake."
"When something like this happens the best way we can get ahead of it is to be aware of it as soon as possible," Browne said. "If one of my children came home and said they are trying to buy a Tesla while they are trying to go to school that's certainly going to raise those flags for me."
"You would think that a refund of a costume jewelry transaction should not allow you to buy a $5,000 Louis Vuitton purse," said David Levenberg of Center Security Services.
Levenberg is a mall and retail security expert. He says this case highlights major flaws in the Lovisa system. The scam should have sounded alarms, before an alert co-worker noticed a $1 million order that Foster had failed to clear out.
"They look for opportunities. They look for loopholes, they look for weaknesses. If they find one, they will take advantage of it. That's just the nature of the beast in retail and a lot of other industries. If there's money involved and potential for somebody to benefit from that, they're going to find a way," Levenberg said, of employee scams he's investigated at major retailers.
Police searched her home in Boston and her dorm room at Lasell in Newton Wednesday. She was arrested on campus and later set free on bail.
Foster is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Woburn District Court.
