The concerning new crime that cost a Victorville spa $60,000 in seconds

VICTORVILLE, Calif. - A Victorville spa owner was robbed of her life savings after a break-in at her business last month. The robbery took just 13 seconds, and the thief only took one item.

It happened on Sept. 21, at the Snatch Me Up California Body Sculpting Spa. A thief broke in through the front door, made a beeline for the counter, and grabbed a handheld point of sale machine — a device used to process credit card transactions — and nothing else.

Days later, the business' bank account had been overdrawn by nearly $60,000, after the thief issued dozens of refunds.

"This broke me," said Ruthie Vartanian, the spa's owner. "It broke me, because this is our life savings."

Vartanian said immediately after the break-in, she transferred all the money out of the Bank of America account associated with the device, assuming that if she had no balance, no transactions would be processed.

"I really didn't know what he was going to do with it," Vartanian said. "I thought for sure, if he tries to refund anything, then it would go back to my customers."

Vartanian said she doesn't know how or why, but the thief was able to use loadable pre-paid credit cards to transfer the money, and that there's no way to trace them. 

She's not alone. Two years ago, the Grand Salon in Brea had their POS device stolen. The thief made off with $40,000 in refunds. Last year in Toronto, police arrested a woman with almost 80 stolen devices.

Vartanian said Bank of America told her "they didn't know how to prevent it and they don't know how to stop it because it's a brand new crime."

Initially, Bank of America told her she was on the hook for the money that was stolen from her. But, since FOX 11 started asking questions, the bank reached out to Vartanian and said it's now investigating. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department is also investigating.

Since the robbery, Vartanian started taking the machine home with her every night, but police also recommend small businesses add a PIN to their account to protect themselves.

"I opened [the spa] during COVID," Vartanian said. "I took a chance on the high desert. This could have closed me down."