ABINGTON – After losing more than $459,000 to a scammer who hacked his email and pretended to be a contractor, a Worcester and Abington pot shop owner is suing the bank he says made it all possible.
Bud’s Goods & Provisions, owned by Alex Mazin of Worcester first filed the lawsuit in March 2021 in state court naming scam suspect Lam Yan Wun Merton. Mazin added HSBC Bank to the lawsuit in September and the lawsuit has since been moved to federal court.
In the lawsuit, attorney Peter Duffy said HSBC Bank should have known that the account used by the hacker, opened for personal use, was being used to transfer stolen money.
Documents received from the bank by Duffy show that between July 2020 and March 2021, there were 20 transfers of over $10,000 into Merton’s account that were transferred the same day they were each received at Silvergate Bank. Silvergate says it specializes in cryptocurrency, which is anonymous and untraceable.
Duffy said in the lawsuit that “multiple other parties” in Texas and British Columbia had their email accounts hacked and were tricked into sending wires to Merton’s account for invoices that needed to be paid.
“Despite being made aware of these facts, (HSBC Bank) refused to take steps to prevent damage to Bud’s and others similarly situated,” Duffy said in the lawsuit.
Bud’s Goods sues HSCB: Read the lawsuit complaint against HSBC…
