Suit: Store scammed elderly woman

By Caroline Enos

» Staff Writer

PEABODY — A beauty and skincare store at the Northshore Mall in Peabody is being sued for allegedly scamming an elderly woman out of more than $40,000 after other customers made similar complaints.

Beauty & Science, also known as Forever Flawless, is in a storefront between the Build-a-Bear-Workshop and Loft at the mall. The Nevada-based company also operates a Forever Flawless store at the South Shore Plaza in Braintree.

The state’s Attorney General’s Office confirmed it has received 33 complaints regarding the business since 2017 and has had limited success in mediating resolutions with the company.

A lawsuit filed in Essex Superior Court this winter alleges employees of the Peabody store aggressively targeted a 71-yearold New Hampshire woman because of her age and trusting nature.

Her attorney did not return a request for comment. Simon Property Group, which owns the Northshore Mall, declined to comment on the case.

The woman was a regular customer of the business for at least two years. She traveled to the store frequently for facials, massages and skin care products, and was treated with a “VIP” status by employees,

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the lawsuit said.

The suit is filed against BNM Corp. LLC, which operates under the name Beauty & Science, and two men referred to as “Alex” and “Rome,” who are believed to be owners of the company, but could not be otherwise identified by the plaintiff at the time of filing the suit.

The defendants would go on to scam her once they learned of her significant wealth, according to the lawsuit.

They became certain that, “due to her age and vulnerability as an elderly woman, (she) was ‘ripe’ for their independent fraudulent scheme,” and in July 2023, “carried out this scheme” to sell her a skincare package with a value of less than $1,000 for $44,943.47, according to the lawsuit.

The defendants allegedly told the woman she was receiving a one-day only discount of $349,000 on the entire skincare package of products and services because she was a valued customer.

The package included a “Multi-wave X-Max” LED light therapy machine intended to reduce the appearance of acne, wrinkles, age spots and other imperfections on the face.

The defendants allegedly told her the device was created with “NASA developed technology” that could reverse the effect of aging on her skin and had a value of $159,000, but they would sell it to her for $42,300.

Such devices typically sell for $200-$500 on Amazon and other online shops.

The defendants allegedly created a fake website listing the device for $159,000, along with false claims of the machine having miracle effects and NASA-made technology. That website was still up as of Friday.

The woman paid $20,000 of the package’s bill on her credit card and wrote out a check for the rest made payable for BNM Corp. LLC, according to the lawsuit. The defendants allegedly pressured her to immediately return home for another check when she wrote the date as 2022 on it instead of 2023.

“The defendants insisted on her writing the check as they knew they would have access to these funds from the check quickly and that she could not dispute the purchase as she could through a credit card company dispute process,” the lawsuit said.

“(She) only made these payments at the urging of the defendants whom she trusted as friends.”

The defendants also allegedly charged her $2,643.75 in sales tax on the sale despite shipping the LED light machine to her New Hampshire home.

The woman and her husband have repeatedly tried to return the device for a full refund, but have been denied each time by the defendants, according to the lawsuit.

In 2021, The Boston Globe reported the store denied an 80-year-old Everett woman a refund for $9,000 worth of products it convinced her to buy.

Comments on the business’ page on the Better Business Bureau’s website contained similar complaints to those in the lawsuit and The Globe’s report, though they are unverified.

The Attorney General’s Office said it encourages customers with complaints against Forever Flawless to file a request for a chargeback with their credit card company right away.

Caroline Enos at CEnos@northofboston.com