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A small business owner in Mount Pearl says she was the victim of a scam and is warning others before the holidays.
Claudia Fimbres, owner of Mamacita Latin Kitchen and Market, told CBC News that she unknowingly signed up for a fake seasonal market, at a cost of $150.
“I started doing more research and then it was like… it disappeared. There was no publication about it, there was no information,” Fimbres said. “I never received a response.” [from] them.”
Fimbres said he saw the Facebook post in November. The sign asked vendors to join a Christmas market in the historic St. John neighborhood, Quidi Vidi, on December 6 and 7. The location would be Quidi Vidi Village Artisan Studios.
Fimbres said he approached the sign on Facebook, was asked $100 to reserve a small booth and received an email with a pass to the event. They then asked him for another $50 to cover the license fee and warned him that if he didn’t send the money, he would lose his booth.
Then they asked for another $40 to pay for parking.
Fimbres said he began to suspect something was wrong and decided to leave the event and ask for a refund. He received no response and after a few days, he contacted the real Quidi Vidi Village Artisan Studios.
That’s when he discovered that the poster was a scam, taking information from a real event. Happy Creators Market — happening on the same weekend and in the same place.
Daniel Rumbolt, CEO of Quidi Vidi Village Artisan Studio, said this is not the first time scammers have used his name or events for fake posts. But not on this scale.
“We found about half a dozen in different Facebook groups. Some groups had several posts in a row,” he said. “They all seemed a little different, but it was very evident that they stole the images from the posters we designed.”
