On social media, it's branded as a new tattoo studio in Quincy, Massachusetts. There's just one problem: It doesn't exist.
"When my appointment came up, I drove to the location, got there. It was an old man's apartment, not any tattoo studio to be found," said Ivana Awanda, a Marlboro resident. "It didn't exist, I was scammed. Probably spent about $100 on deposits."
Quincy Police are now warning of a fake account on Instagram and TikTok that has scammed at least a dozen people across the state out of deposit money.
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.
The fraudulent business lists 514 South St. in Quincy as the address.
"They basically said, 'Hey, I'm a new artist to the area, I have a private studio, just trying to get my name out there," explained Michaela Zouharis, an East Boston resident who said she communicated with the scammer via private messages on TikTok. "I was actually getting my ears pierced with my sister when I got a call, and my friend said, 'Yeah, this is a scam.'"
The business was named "KTD_Tattoo_Studio" on social media platforms, but on Tuesday, it changed its name to "KandT_Tattoo_Studio."
Stephanie Disla, a resident of Barre, said she drove an hour and a half before realizing the tattoo studio did not exist.
Local
In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area.
"An older gentleman came out and had said that this is not the first time, there's no tattoo studio here, and to go to the Quincy Police Department to report this," she said. "Cash App is denying to get us our money back and stating that we shouldn't be sending money to people that we don't know, which is true, but we thought we were all getting tattoos."
According to Detective Thien Le, the lead investigator on the case with the Quincy Police Department, a search warrant for Cash App, operated by Block, Inc, was applied and granted for police to look at transactions between victims and the account holder, KTD Tattoo Studios.
Le told NBC10 Boston that the department is still waiting for some information from the search warrant to apply for charges.
Other victims, like Tayler George of Holden, explained that they've been unable to get any refunds.
"They asked for a deposit of $100 and they only had Cash App, which I sent," said George. "I requested a refund for my deposit on Cash App and they declined it. And they've been ignoring me ever since."
"I'm pretty angry. It sucks to be scammed out of the money, but I told people about them and recommended people," she continued. "And I'm mad at myself, too, just for not — if it seems too good to be true, it probably is, and I should have known. But sometimes it's hard to see those signs at first."
All four victims interviewed by NBC10 Boston said they recommend others do a thorough Google search of any tattoo studio before making an appointment, and asking for recommendations through friends or a trusted source.
The Quincy Police Department pointed to these resources from Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help potential future victims avoid scams:
