Stall holders warned of Christmas market scam

Traders and small businesses have been warned of scam emails claiming to sell stall space at Christmas markets ahead of the upcoming festive period.

The BBC has seen emails sent by scammers asking for payments of up to £670 to reserve stalls at markets including the Essex County Christmas Fair at Boreham House near Chelmsford.

Events Management company Prestige County Events, based in Colchester, has been forwarded multiple emails impersonating the company that have been received by traders.

"They're losing money to the scammers - time and stock, travel costs, and hotel costs to stay for up to three days," said owner Darren Perry.

"We know that huge amounts of these people are very small local businesses.

"They're often one person or a family-run business, and they could well be creating products, handcrafted items, bakers staying up all night prior to the event to get things ready.

"They're parting with their money and their time for positions that the actual organisers have no idea they're expecting to receive."

Some of the emails seen by the BBC promise "a great opportunity to showcase your business at our festive Christmas event" and offer a variety of pitch prices to prospective customers.

Perry said he felt "impersonated, violated, angry and frustrated" when he learnt about the scam.

He noticed fraudsters had used multiple email addresses, and he recommended checking organiser details online before replying to any emails received.

"Don't just take a random, unsolicited email as proof and verification that you're dealing with the organiser," he continued.

The BBC contacted Essex Police, which said it was unaware of this specific scam.

Dr Abubakar Sadiq Sani, an associate professor in cybersecurity at the University of Greenwich, said the story of victims being scammed in this way was "very common".

He recommended businesses use a credit card and pay in instalments wherever possible.

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