Scam Alert:

Email Scam Send to Wedding Planners

This current scheme has been going on for at least the past few months and basically involves sending in a cashiers check for an amount greater than what you've billed them--and then asking you transfer the extra money elsewhere. The cashiers check clears into your account quickly, you transfer them the money, and weeks later your bank realizes the check was a fraud and deducts the amount from your account.

I received this scam just last week, and it immediately raised suspicions though I couldn't prove it was indeed a scam right away. A bride-to-be contacts you from somewhere in Europe (in this case Germany) saying that she and her fiance are moving to the U.S. and need help planning a wedding. The minor details (name/date/location) change, but otherwise, everyone is receiving the exact same email.

Here is a copy of the email:

My name is Serena Jones, from Rathmines, Ireland (Europe ). I will be coming over to New Jersey with my Husband Virgile Raymond who's French by nature but has actually naturalised in Ireland.

We'll be moving to the US to start a new life because my husband to be just got a job with the Coca-cola Co. in NJ and i have made plans of opening my new kiddies fashion store in NJ as soon as we are settled in. Just before then we will be getting married on the 19th of April, 2008 and we have decided to get married in THE STATES since we're moving on and we pretty know our new move would be wonderful. We will be needin' a good wedding planner to take care of our wedding event both ceremony and reception for our guests and our convenience because we require the best for the best memories for our children in future and as a matter of fact we have made a good budget for the best on our wedding day.

We prefer the ceremony and reception event to take place in a location and we are expecting at most 60 guests on the day of our occasion because most of our families in Europe and in the United Kingdom will be present for this wonderful occassion. Also, we would like you to know we prefer the reception and ceremony to take place in a location for the convenience of our guests and would love the ceremony to be in a garden setting and the reception in an indoor location in Matinsville, NJ or surrounding areas because the weather is unpredictable at this time of the year. We haven't made any venue reservations yet but we are sure the wedding planner can do that on our behalf as we are looking for a customized wedding planning package that involves virtually every aspect of planning except the band which we are already making arrangements for. The total wedding budget is 25,000$US. Please let us know if you can help work with us for the success of our event and can help work within our budget as we're not opened to spending a dollar more than the above bidget?

Hope you're enjoying a blissful weekend!
Thanks and God bless,
Serena&Virgile

Now, I occasionally receive legitimate inquiries from couples living abroad, who are usually in the military but returning home for a wedding. But in this case, something seemed off. I looked online for information about it after the first email, but at that point wasn't sure what exactly the spam was. Finally, the "bride" says that a cashiers check is on it's way--for over $3,000 more than the deposit. The extra money I'm to transfer with Western Union to their band, which will be flying in to perform from France.

What concerns me most about this is that they are basically asking wedding planners to do something we do on a regular basis: make a payment to a wedding vendor. With similar scams like the Nigerian Money Scam, the scammer is making a request that is so out of the blue, so odd or so "too good to be true" that it is obviously spam. But this isn't. And with so many young, new planners in the industry right now, I'm sure many people may be eager to secure a client and could easily overlook the warning signs.

And so my tips to planners to protect yourself from this and other scams:

  1. Do not accept cashiers checks. If you do, allow extra time after the money is cleared in your account for the check to be verified before touching the money (I've seen reports this may take two or three weeks or up to three months. . .that's enough for me to never accept one from anyone).

  2. Do not send money to a vendor you've never seen or heard from directly. And of course, do not pay any vendor you do not have a contract with.

  3. Protect your privacy. Be as smart a business person as you are a consumer, and do not provide passwords, bank accounts numbers, etc., to anyone.

  4. If it sounds suspicious, proceed with caution. Do online research to see if anyone else has received a similar scam. Insist on secure payments and if they balk, turn them away.

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