Bogus "clients" who pass bad checks off on event planners are back in business—with a vengeance.
Nicole Matthews of The Henley Co. in San Diego alerted Special Events last month that a supposed "client" wanted to give Nicole a deposit for an event he would hire her to plan. He asked that she arrange and pay for vendors herself, using his check as reimbursement.
However, some smart research by Nicole tipped her off that her "client" wasn't who he said he was. And she discovered examples of scammers who provide bad checks as "reimbursement" for the event planner's outlays to partner scammers. Planners who fall for the scam wind up sending their own money to the partner scammers, only to find that the "reimbursement" check is worthless.
Nicole alerts Special Events that since her blog posted, other event planners have recently been contacted with similar suspicious offers.
If you missed Nicole's Special Events Blog post describing the telltale signs of a check-scammer, read her blog here.