{"id":686,"date":"2019-03-28T11:16:27","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T15:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/?p=686"},"modified":"2019-03-28T11:16:28","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T15:16:28","slug":"5-wedding-scams-to-avoid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/5-wedding-scams-to-avoid\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Wedding Scams to Avoid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"940\" height=\"788\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2019\/03\/Wedding-Scams.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-687\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2019\/03\/Wedding-Scams.png 940w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2019\/03\/Wedding-Scams-300x251.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2019\/03\/Wedding-Scams-768x644.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2019\/03\/Wedding-Scams-358x300.png 358w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t let your dream day turn into a nightmare! As wedding season\ngets closer, we are here to warn you about five wedding-related scams that\ntarget both people planning weddings and businesses providing services:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>#1 <strong>Fake photographer<\/strong>: Scammers offer what appear to be professional photography services through websites with stolen or stock images. They ask for payment up front and then disappear with your money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how to avoid this scam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Research businesses BEFORE hiring them\u2014ask friends for recommendations and look for online reviews. <\/li><li>Ask the photographer for references and call them.&nbsp; <\/li><li>Ask the photographer to sign a contract before providing a deposit. <\/li><li>NEVER wire money to someone you\u2019ve never met!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>#2 <strong>Online wedding dress<\/strong>: Scammers create rip-off websites offering steep discounts on designer dresses. You pay for the dress, never receive the order, and can\u2019t get in touch with the sellers. Then the website disappears from the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how to avoid this scam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Search online forums for reviews of the seller and the website.<\/li><li>Check the dress designer\u2019s website to see if the seller is listed as an authorized dealer. <\/li><li>Comparison shop. Check prices with multiple sellers. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:left\">Scammers target wedding vendors too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>#3 <strong>Fake order of goods\/services<\/strong>:\nYour business is contacted by a \u201cclient\u201d who wants you to perform a service or\nprovide goods for their wedding. (This scam typically targets florists,\nmusicians, bakers, and event planners.) You receive a check for more than the\nagreed upon amount. Your \u201cclient\u201d then advises you to deposit the check and send\nthe difference to another vendor by wire transfer. Later, the check bounces and\nyou\u2019re out any money that\u2019s been transferred. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how to avoid this scam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Do not cash the check.<\/li><li>Never send money to an unknown party and cease all communication with the scammer immediately.&nbsp; <\/li><li>Be cautious of clients sending you more money than you\u2019ve agreed to. This is a sign of a scam!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>#4 <strong>Justice of\nthe Peace scam<\/strong>: Your information is published online as a Justice of the\nPeace (JP). You are contacted by a \u201ccouple\u201d who wants you to perform their\nmarriage ceremony. The scam involves a fake check well over the amount for\nmarriage ceremony services and\na request to send the excess to another ceremony vendor.&nbsp;\nIn one report recently received by the Attorney General\u2019s Office, a JP was\nmailed a fake check in the amount of $1800 and\ninstructed to send the majority to a videographer.\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how to avoid this scam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Do not cash the check.&nbsp; <\/li><li>Never send money to an unknown party and to cease all\ncommunication with the scammer immediately.&nbsp; <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>#5 <strong>Wedding Expo\nscam<\/strong>:&nbsp; A scam website claims a big\nwedding expo is coming to town. There is a registration fee for vendors with\npromises of a great location and exposure. The \u201cevent organizers\u201d require\npayment in advance and you later find out that the expo doesn\u2019t exist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how to avoid this scam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Contact the venue the expo is claiming to be held at.<\/li><li>Check the event organizer\u2019s references.<\/li><li>Connect with other vendors to see if they have any information. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Vermonter consumers and businesses who have fallen victim to\nany of these scams should contact the Consumer Assistance Program right away at\n800-649-2424.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that you know what scams to be aware of, here\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.state.vt.us\/media\/770332\/getting_married_in_vermont_faq.pdf\">information<\/a>\nabout obtaining wedding licenses for people getting married in Vermont. Happy\nplanning!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don\u2019t let your dream day turn into a nightmare! As wedding season gets closer, we are here to warn you about five wedding-related scams that target both people planning weddings and businesses providing services: #1 Fake photographer: Scammers offer what appear to be professional photography services through websites with stolen or stock images. They ask&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/5-wedding-scams-to-avoid\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">5 Wedding Scams to Avoid<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4519,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[223768],"tags":[481474,482450],"class_list":["post-686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","tag-consumer","tag-scams","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4519"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=686"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":690,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686\/revisions\/690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}