HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (WBTV) – The kitchen is Melodie Asseraf’s happy place. That’s why in 2020, she launched “Bake it with Mel” with a hope that others who may not have her culinary skills could enjoy baking too.
Her cookie mixes and baking kits can be found on Amazon and other online retailers, but earlier this year, she received an email from an interested store owner in Belize.
“Of course, as a small business, I was very excited. It was our first client going international,” Asseraf said.
Nothing seemed off at first to Asseraf, who even talked to the client on the phone.
“They were okay to pay up front. We exchanged a bunch of emails about skews, the marketing plan,” she said.
Asseraf said they paid using a software company called Quickbooks. She subscribes to the service monthly for this very reason – to protect her from falling victim to a scam.
“The first $28,000 cleared in the bank right away,” she said. “So, I’m like cool, this is a $28,000 order.”
Since Asseraf wasn’t used to shipping internationally, she says the company suggested a shipper to use. She corresponded with them for weeks, paying $7,000 up front to ship the massive order from her warehouse.
But right before the products went out, Asseraf says things started to fall apart.
Asseraf says the alleged shop owner disputed their $18,000 payment with Quickbooks – and the company she pays for obliged.
“Overnight, Quickbooks just took that money out of our account. $18,000,” she said.
The…
