Scammer Alert: Same MO, New Alias

Debbie Garcia, CEO of Virsitour, a Nashville-based sourcing platform and agency, was contacted by someone claiming to be Tom Taylor, project manager for Cyclone Drilling.

In the email, Taylor said the company was opening a Nashville office and needed help planning a combined office launch and team-building event. 

The outreach follows a pattern Skift Meetings has previously reported on, in which fraudsters impersonate corporate clients and ask planners to act as intermediaries for advance payments to preferred vendors.

After reviewing Taylor’s LinkedIn profile, she felt it was legitimate. With January typically a slower month, she agreed to explore the opportunity and shared her calendar. Taylor booked a virtual meeting for the following day, but never showed up.

When the phone number he provided went to a voicemail with no identifying name, Garcia followed up by email. Taylor immediately called her back from the same number.

Manage Vendor Payments

Although Garcia asked Taylor to provide a formal brief, he emailed a description of his preferred working arrangement. “We prefer to work with an event planner who can manage vendor coordination and also serve as a single point of payment,” he wrote, adding that this would allow for clearer financial documentation.

Garcia said she could assist but required 100% payment upfront under her proposal and contract. When she sent over an agreement reflecting those terms, Taylor pushed back.

She reached out to Beth Inglish, an industry peer, who had been targeted by a similar scam last fall. “Although the names were different, the parameters were so similar,” Garcia said. 

To confirm her suspicions, she contacted the office building Taylor claimed Cyclone Drilling was moving into and was told there were no new tenants. 

She canceled the contract. She did not lose money, but said the experience was costly in other ways. “I basically wasted a week I could have been working on other things,” she said.

Repeat Targeting

This incident is not isolated. Nirjary Desai, founder of KIS Cubed Events, who lost $20,000 to a scam in July, was contacted by another fraudster last week. Someone identifying himself as Ron Alan, from LKG Corporation in Jenkinsburg, Georgia, reached out about a dinner and awards presentation.

Since being scammed, Desai now requires all prospective clients to complete an intake form. Alan ignored the form and instead sent details about his $80,000 event and payment methods. He noted that some vendors could not accept corporate credit cards and asked whether Desai could handle payments on their behalf. 

Desai contacted LKG Corporation to confirm Alan’s identity. “There is no such person,” she was told.

New Scam Emerges

In a separate incident this week, an independent event planner, who asked to remain anonymous, fell victim to a different scam. This time, fraudsters created fake invoices that purported to be from the planner, using her company’s name and logo. They registered a similar domain, only adding “inc.” to the business name. 

The planner became aware of the scam when a client reached out.  “I didn’t realize we owed you $30,000,” the client said. 

Fraudulent invoices listed a KeyBank bank account that the planner does not hold. “I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I was so close to being scammed. I had to close all my bank accounts and notify my clients and KeyBank. I can’t tell you the hours and hours I spent on this, not to mention the lack of sleep and aggravation.”

The planner said her Facebook account was hacked around the same time and suspects that may have been how the fraudsters gained access to company information.