More butcher shops appear to fall victim to same meat purchase scam as Massachusetts store
It appears a North Shore butcher shop, which was scammed out of thousands of dollars, was not alone. Other butcher shops now say they have been duped too.
The first order for oxtail and ribs was for about $8,000, Paulo Xavier explained. It was just before the holidays, and he thought his new butcher shop, Local Meat Market in Milford, Massachusetts had struck gold.
"He said they would donate it for homeless people and stuff like that," Xavier explained.
Similar scams in Milford and Connecticut
Sound familiar? Just last week, WBZ featured a North Andover butcher shop that also faced $60,000 in orders for oxtail and short rib that were allegedly for homeless people – only to later find out the credit card had been stolen.
WBZ also confirmed with the former Don Martinez shop in Willimantic, Connecticut that it was forced to close after similar scammers got away with over $70,000 in fraudulent purchases.
In Milford, Local Meat Market owner Paulo Xavier first saw that he wasn't alone when he saw a story on the news about the scam.
Stores say they were scammed by same men
He says he talked to Eva's Farm owner Roberto Alonzo, and both determined that the same men, using the same name, matching ID, and credit card, ordered thousands of dollars of meat from their shops. They then sent other men to pick it up over nearly half a dozen trips. Then, one day – both butchers were frozen out of their credit card systems after it was determined the transactions were fraudulent.
Now, Xavier owes $30,000 and Alonzo owns $60,000. "They didn't cover their faces; they didn't hide anything," Xavier said.
Milford and North Andover Police both confirmed they are investigating, but the butchers are disappointed in a lack of action so far as they are stuck footing the bill. They want the police departments to coordinate to bring the scammers to justice.
