College girl amassed $500,000 in fraudulent purchases while working at Burlington Mall

A local college student has been arrested for collecting more than $500,000 in fraudulent charges in a credit card scheme she’s been operating since February, authorities allege.

Ariel Foster, 19, of Boston, was charged with stealing over $1,200.

Burlington Police say Foster used a sophisticated credit card scheme to fund lavish purchases at her Burlington Mall, Lovisa, workplace in February. Lovisa is a jewelry store.

Officials say Foster scanned items from the store on three separate dates and increased their price. The cost of the expensive item was then allegedly refunded to her credit card, where investigators found 8 transactions for the company’s total loss of $547,187.

Police say that between Feb. 2 and 22, Foster purchased a $35,000 Tesla, made nearly $6,000 in transactions with Delta Airlines, made nearly $5,000 in Louis Vuitton purchases and Bought Dollars and spent more than $20,000 on a hotel in Maui, Hawaii using this credit card system.

After serving a subpoena to Foster’s financial institutions, authorities determined that these expensive refund transactions originated from Lovisa America LLC.

On Wednesday, a search warrant was executed in her dormitory at Lasell University, where she was taken into custody without incident.

“We are aware that on Wednesday, March 8, a Lasell University student was arrested,” Lasell University said in a statement. “The responsibility of all students to comply with local, state, and federal laws applies both on and off campus.”

Foster will be arraigned in Woburn Circuit Court on Friday.

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