Two people scammed after fraudsters pose as Cathedral Village Arts Festival

Two Regina residents lost money after fraudsters posed as the Cathedral Village Arts Festival in an online scam. Mick Favel reports.

The Cathedral Village Arts Festival (CVAF) is speaking out after a poster posing as the CVAF scammed two people into thinking they were purchasing vendor space at the 2026 street fair.

The fake poster was circulating within online groups pertaining to Regina newcomers.

The two victims of the scam reached out to the CVAF after they were told by the fraudsters another fee was needed for the vendor space.

“We have a system where you go to our website. They were able to short circuit that. Get around us and get to this community and scam these women,” said Paul Dechene, the communications coordinator of CVAF.

Dechene said when the CVAF learned about the scam, they immediately reported the poster, and it was taken down swiftly.

The arts festival has been aware of scammers appearing within their feed, attempting to bait CVAF followers. So far, none of these attempts have been successful.

Dechene said art events of all sizes are now being used by fraudsters to scam money from artists and attendees.

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“We have to put these caveats and warnings on all our messages now,” he said.

“If you go and look at any craft market in the city, and craft market in North America, these scammers are hitting social media and trying to get people’s money,” he added.

The festival board met with the two people impacted by the scam and will give them the vendor space they paid for.

The CVAF scam is just one of a number which have been reported so far in 2026.

On Feb. 17, SaskPower reported there are emails posing as the election utility corporation, looking to collect banking and credit card information from their users.

SaskPower advises anyone who gives their information out to call their banks immediately.

On Feb. 13, the Moose Jaw Police Service released a statement warning the public about emails posing as the Saskatchewan Fine Collection Branch.

The emails are asking for unpaid provincial violation tickets.

Trish Seman is the Superintendent at the Moose Jaw Police Service. She said the increase of technology has increased the ways scammers can con victims.

“It can be very random who gets these scam calls or emails. Maybe it’s an elderly scam, or different types of scams that people are more prevalent to. They do set the net wide and try get who they can get,” she said.