DENVER (KDVR) — Denver hairstylists are warning the public about a woman using fraudulent checks to get services and products for free.
FOX31 has a partnership with Posh the Salon Denver. Posh stylist Meredith Vanley recently took care of a new client who went home with several products and ended up paying for everything with a fake check.
“She went by Breta Marios,” Vanley said. “She told me she had two kids, she was from California. I told her I had kids, I was a single mom. It seemed like a normal everyday new client.”
Vanley said the woman who went by Marios came in wearing bandages covering parts of her face, saying she had been bitten by a dog a few months prior.
The bank told the salon that the two checks were fake.
“We went through some of our old files and found out she had done it about two years back as well, under a different name, so she got us twice,” Vanley said. “It’s really unfortunate we have to look out for people like this still. I just hope she doesn’t do this to anybody else.”
Another stylist, Bulacar Hair Salon owner Johanna Bulacar told FOX31 she became a victim of this same scam back in 2020.
“I think it was Marietta or Greta she went by,” Bulacar said. “It was the first day back after the COVID-19 shutdowns.”
After eight weeks of services being shut down, Bulacar said she started back with a new client who told her she forgot her credit card and needed to pay with a check.
“It was a total of $250 service and she just left, normal,” Bulacar said.
After the fake check bounced, Bulacar posted a warning on Facebook and received a massive response from the Denver hairstyling community.
“All the sudden I had 80 comments, all these stylists around had the same thing happened,” Bulacar said. “The detective also mentioned that she’s been wanted in another state because of bank frauds.”
“It’s despicable,” Vanley said. “She might think this is a victimless crime but it’s not. We use our money to feed our families and to put food on the table. I have a child that’s in college and one that’s about to drive and she stole from them too.”
Denver police told the FOX31 Problem Solvers they are currently investigating this case. The department asks anyone with information to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP.