Minnesota Police Department Warns Of Facebook Event Scam
Just in time for holiday shopping season, a police department in Minnesota is warning locals about an event scam that was reported in the area just a few days ago! I have even heard instances of this happening in Duluth as well.
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The Floodwood Police Department took to Facebook earlier this month, sharing details of the scam and even a screenshot of a fake post from the social media site promoting the scam. Floodwood is about an hour from Duluth, meaning this scam hits close to home.
According to their post, this scam is all a ruse to con Facebook users out of money. Scammers create a fake event supposedly happening in the area for a date in the near future. Scammers are cashing in on the whole holiday shopping thing, creating fake events for a holiday craft fair and sale.
The scammer provides details of a time and real location, asking for vendors, crafters and food truck vendors to take part in the event. All they ask for is a 'vendor fee' which you can pay to them directly. Scammers ask you to message if interested, send you a link to pay and the rest is history.
I will say, the post for this particular fake event does look pretty convincing. It says they are searching for volunteers and lists all of the things they have available for the vendor or food truck owner, like electricity and free admission.
There really is nothing we can do to stop this scam entirely so that is why it is important to always use caution before sending anyone money over the internet, especially if it is a business or entity you haven't heard of before.
The Floodwood Police Department offers some tips to stay vigilant this holiday shopping season, sharing that scammers won't want to meet you in person or will try to take a conversation outside of Facebook to seem real. If they ask for payment online and not in person, it's probably a scam.
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They also state that you should limit sharing personal information, as is the case with most things over the internet. Check the profile of the person who created the event. If they have no posts or friends, it is probably a scam. Don't be a grinch and stay safe out there!