Scammers are exploiting Ontario’s fair season, posing as organizers and tricking vendors into paying for non-existent booth spaces, say local fair organizers. “We are dealing with a province-wide vendor application phishing scam that is targeting agricultural fairs across Ontario,” said staff at the Beeton Fall Fair. “The Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies issued an official scam alert earlier this year, and the situation has continued to escalate.” Flos Agricultural Society’s secretary, Pat Leonard, tells CTV News people are impersonating fairs through emails and fake social media posts, targeting past vendors and the public. The Elmvale Fall Fair, which has been running for more than 160 years, is another affected by the scam. Leonard, also an organizer of the fair, said an out-of-town vendor recently received a fraudulent invitation to rent booth space at their event and was directed to fill out a form online before being asked for money. “Once she filled out the form, she got a second email saying she was accepted, and in order to hold her spot, she was to e-transfer $180 + HST to this same fraudulent email address,” he said. The vendor became suspicious after checking the fair’s website and calling organizers, who later confirmed vendor applications had not yet opened. Within hours, Leonard said two former vendors also reported receiving suspicious emails, and one had already sent money. “Within a few hours she (separate vendor) received another email from them that due to unforeseen circumstances, they were having to increase their price and she would have to send more money. Fortunately she stopped there,” he told CTV News. Staff at the fair contacted police and said a case has been opened. “Scams like this can have a negative effect on the people’s trust in local community events and can prevent them from attending altogether for fear of being scammed,” said Ontario Provincial Police. “However, people are becoming more aware of the dangers of online fraud and how to spot it.” Organizers at the Elmvale Fall Fair say they are not out any money, “but it is the damage to our reputation and the feeling of insecurity that our new and returning vendors now have that may see our booth numbers drastically reduced.” The Beeton Fall Fair added, “We fully expect that some vendors may arrive at fairs believing they have legitimately booked a space when, in fact, they have been defrauded. We are trying to push this information as far and as quickly as possible to protect vendors, visitors and fair organizations across the province.” Police say anyone experiencing fraud should report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
