Veteran organizer Katie Mabry van Dieren, now in her 16th year running the Strawberry Swing Indie Craft Fair’s Holiday Swing, disclosed that scammers have been impersonating the fair to trick prospective vendors. The fraudsters sent emails that copied the fair’s official application forms and signed the messages as “Haley Erickson, vendor relations and logistics coordinator, the 16th Annual Holiday Swing,” a name that does not exist within the organization.
How the scam unfolded
According to Mabry van Dieren, she received four separate phishing emails that appeared to come from the fair’s staff. The messages used the fair’s branding and language verbatim, even attaching the same graphic flyer used by the event. One email read, “Hello, I hope you are having a great day. I found your business page while looking for vendors and wanted to connect to see if you might be interested in joining our upcoming event as a vendor.”
After the initial contact, the scammers requested a vendor fee through payment platforms such as Zelle or Venmo. “The vendor started thinking it was fishy because the booth fee payment was a Zelle or Venmo,” Mabry van Dieren said, noting that the request for a private, non‑traditional payment method was the red flag that prompted her investigation.
Impact and response
The fraud has affected multiple vendors who paid for a booth that does not exist, as well as the fair’s reputation. Josh Planos, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the Better Business Bureau, warned that scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, often cloning legitimate flyers and even creating duplicate websites that mimic the original.
Planos offered practical tips for vendors and small businesses: verify email addresses, look for inconsistencies in branding, and be wary of any request for payment outside of standard channels. “Anytime somebody is requesting a private non‑traditional form of payment, that’s typically a red flag to look out for,” he said.
Steps to protect yourself
Both the fair’s organizer and the BBB recommend reporting suspected scams to local law‑enforcement, the state Attorney General’s Office, the FBI, or the Better Business Bureau. Mabry van Dieren has already filed a police report and reported the cloned application forms to Google, resulting in the removal of the fraudulent pages.
Vendors are encouraged to contact the fair directly through verified channels before sending any payment. The Strawberry Swing Indie Craft Fair continues to welcome legitimate vendors for its Holiday Swing in November and is working to ensure that all communications are secure.
Original reporting: KSHB 41 Kansas City (local) — read the source article.
