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LANSING – Today, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is reissuing her phishing and website spoofing consumer alerts following a report of fraudulent Facebook event pages impersonating popular art fairs and festivals, including Plymouth’s Art in the Park. These scams try to trick vendors into paying fake booth fees.
The fraudulent event pages on Facebook use actual event photos, descriptions, and branding to appear legitimate to vendors and the public. Vendors are instructed to reserve a booth space via text and then send payments through Zelle directly to the individuals operating the accounts.
“Spoofing scams like this one harm both businesses and the public,” said Attorney General Nessel. “They can damage the reputations of prominent art fairs and festivals, erode customer trust, and lead to hard-working entrepreneurs getting scammed out of their money. Before submitting payments to hold a spot, vendors should verify the event through its official website.”
Spoofed Facebook pages are often newly created and have few followers. Legitimate art fairs and festivals will not usually demand immediate payment for vendors to participate in the event. Before paying for and reserving a spot at an event, vendors should contact the organizers directly, confirm the Facebook event host is legitimate, and verify the event on its official website. Whenever possible, vendors should use a credit card with fraud protection to pay any participation fees since there is often no way to recover money sent to a fraudster by a payment app.
If you believe an event page is fraudulent, report it to Facebook as well as the Federal Trade Commission and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
For more information or to file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Team, contact:
Consumer Protection Team
P.O. Box 30213
Lansing, MI 48909
517-335-7599
Fax: 517-241-3771
Toll-free: 877-765-8388
Online complaint form
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