Criminals trying to scam special event professionals—from sophisticates claiming to represent hip-hop star Sean "Diddy" Combs to penny-ante email frauds—are everywhere in special events today.
Many special event pros are outraged by this predicament, but they are fighting back. Carolyn Arthurs of All About Events in New Orleans has chased after bogus "clients" for the last three years. She has gone so far as to take instances of email scammers to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"The stories I've heard have been heart-wrenching," she says. "People have lost their businesses over this."
WANT TO FIGHT BACK?
If you receive an email soliciting your business that you think may be fraudulent, you are welcome to forward it to Special Events. We will post it on our website, where event professionals can review it and post their comments whether they think it's genuine or a scam.
If you receive a suspicious email, please send it to [email protected].
One of the people reviewing the emails will be Arthurs; she tells Special Events, "I've been after these b******s for a long time."
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