Across New England and the U.S., butcher shops have allegedly fallen victim to similar scams, costing their businesses thousands of dollars worth of meat.
Butcher shops are struggling across New England — and the U.S. — with a number of shop owners reporting that they have been scammed out of thousands of dollars worth of meat.
Roberto Alonzo, owner of Eva’s Farm Butcher Shop in North Andover, initially told Boston.com earlier this month that three men allegedly placed several large orders of meat totaling to roughly $60,000 in December.
Alonzo said the men requested 700 pounds of meat to provide meals for people in homeless shelters.
But Alonzo said he later learned that the men had used stolen credit cards to purchase the meat. He contacted the police and his insurance company, but neither were able to offer much assistance — the $60,000 was gone.
Alonzo has since started a GoFundMe to raise money to cover his losses. The fundraiser had accumulated more than $18,000 as of Friday.
North Andover police told Boston.com that they are still investigating the incident, but did not provide any further details.
Paulo Xavier, owner of Local Meat Market in Milford, told Boston.com that someone placed a similarly large order at his shop. He, too, said he was told that the meat would be given to homeless people.
Xavier, who started his business in March of last year, said he was also scammed out of thousands of dollars.
“It really hit me really bad,” Xavier said. “I’m still paying because I didn’t have the money.”
On six separate occasions in December, a man using the name “John Walkers” alleged
