Scammers were once again trying to cash in on the holiday spirit by targeting local businesses hoping to secure a spot at the upcoming Kamloops Christmas Market.
The Kamloops Sports Council out with yet another warning to vendors, telling them to be on high alert for highly sophisticated, fake emails demanding immediate payment via e-transfer.
“It’s not anything new…this happens to events worldwide,” said Duncan Olthius, Executive Director of the Kamloops Sports Council, which is the organization which launched the fledgling Market in Riverside Park last year.
“They reach out with very convincing emails,” added Olthius. “If you look at the emails, you’d think, oh yeah, that is definitely from that organization.”
The fraudsters were blasting out fake vendor applications to businesses across the city, mimicking the official branding of the market.
“If they get accepted, which they always will with these scammers, then a payment link is sent out,” explained Olthius. “Well, actually, it’s not a payment link…they send an e-transfer to this email, and that’s how it happens.”
It’s not clear how many businesses were targeted by this scam, or whether its local or part of a broader effort to dupe businesses and others out of money while hiding under the banner of a respected local institution, such as the Kamloops Sports Council.
“They always have KamloopsChristmasMarket in it, but it’s usually from a Gmail account,” Olthius warned. “If it’s from a Gmail account, don’t trust it.”
The Sports Council stresses that official communication would only ever come from their verified domain, and vendors must apply directly through the official website.
“So don’t pay anything unless you get an invoice, a verified invoice from the Kamloops Sports Council,” Olthius added.
The scam appeared to be casting a wide net, targeting a variety of local storefronts and artisans.
“The ones that we’ve heard from has been kind of, you know, stone and mortar businesses as well as smaller vendors that traditionally come to the market,” said Olthius.
Warning issued by Kamloops sports council about 2nd straight year of fraud efforts targeting local businesses/via Kamloops Farmers Market on Facebook
Any emails still attempting to solicit money from businesses should now be more heavily scrutinized, as the application window for vendors has now closed for this year.
Despite the ongoing headache of battling the fraudsters, organizers are pushing forward with plans to significantly expand the market for its second year.
The actual market is scheduled to run from November 27th to December 6th at the Heritage House parking lot.
“It’s going to be we’re adding more chalets…we are expanding the area a little bit,” said Olthius. “We’re adding a few neat little pieces that I can’t tell yet.”
Sports Council hopes to revive initial market enthusiasm
The push for expansion follows a wildly successful pilot year that seemingly showed a market and appetite for a European-style holiday market.
According to a presentation to city council, the inaugural 10-day event attracted more than 23,000 visitors to the downtown core.
Organizers estimate the market generated a massive $2.6 million in local economic impact.
The setup featured 46 different vendors over its run, alongside nightly live entertainment, food trucks, and a towering 40-foot live Christmas tree.
The event not only saw several vendors completely sell out of their products, but it also provided significant spillover benefits to adjacent downtown businesses and nearby craft sales.
Ticketing data revealed the market drew tourists from across the province, with some attendees travelling from as far away as Japan.
Looking ahead, the Sports Council has floated the idea of eventually utilizing the entire Heritage House parking lot to increase daily vendor capacity from 22 to as many as 50.
