Three Months of Planning Ends in Frustrating Scam
Photo Credit: One of several mood boards developed for an event later revealed to be fraudulent. Jedd Davis
Skift Take
This event scam didn’t rely on urgency. Instead, it replicated the meetings industry’s normal workflow — contracts, planning calls, and vendor coordination — exposing how planners acting as financial intermediaries remain vulnerable.
A Las Vegas–based experiential planner spent three months working on what appeared to be a legitimate office-opening celebration for the American Coatings Association (ACA). Instead, the project unraveled into a scam that left him with more than 75 hours of unpaid work.
“In 20 years of producing experiential events, I’ve never seen a scam this sophisticated, and that’s exactly why our industry needs to take it seriously,” said Jedd Davis, senior experiential producer at JEDDXM.
A Convincing Client
The scheme began on November 14, when someone identifying himself as “Crystal Davis,” claiming to be a program manager at ACA, reached out about producing a Las Vegas office launch and team-building event. Nothing about the inquiry seemed unusual. The email referenced standard planning needs — vendor coordination, logistics management, and on-site execution.
“We’re looking for someone to help coordinate with vendors in the lead-up to the event and manage logistics on the day itself,” the email read. “Based on your experience, we’d love to learn more about how you might support us.”
Unbeknownst to Davis, the individual had allegedly cycled through multiple identities, targeting several event planners for months.
Soon after, Davis received a detailed scope outlining entertainment, catering, decor, audiovisual production, and gifting. The client suggested sending funds upfront so JEDDXM could secure vendors with whom ACA supposedly had existing relationships.
Davis received what appeared to be proper documentation: a signed Statement of Work, invoices, ACH confirmations, and W-9 forms. He researched the association and confirmed it was legitimate. Nothing raised immediate red flags.
“I even talked to all the vendors,” Davis said. “Plus, I did my research and confirmed the American Coatings Association is legit.”
Deposit Clears
The client sent a $20,000 deposit on December 3 via an Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfer to begin planning services. The funds appeared to clear through standard banking channels. At the time, nothing about the payment structure seemed unusual.
Like many planners, Davis was functioning as a financial intermediary, collecting client funds and distributing them to production partners selected by the client. This common workflow for events can leave planners exposed if a payment is later reversed.
The total budget for the event was originally $35,000, but as the planning progressed, additional AV and lighting, and a videographer were added.
When an attempted credit card payment for the deposit was rejected by Davis’s invoicing platform, the client agreed to retry through another processing system, an interaction that raised no immediate concern. That worked, and Davis advanced $20,280 in vendor payments.
As planning progressed, there were recurring status calls, vendor coordination, and the creation of a 14-page creative presentation. The overall program budget ultimately grew to nearly $50,000.
At the same time, the event date shifted multiple times — from December 17 to January 17 to March 11 — reportedly due to construction delays. The concept evolved from a holiday-themed celebration into a “Desert Disco” experience inspired by Las Vegas.
On February 13, another $28,000 payment was deposited, but a week later, it was reversed.
Davis reported the incident to the bank, local authorities, and the FBI. “I am waiting for everything to settle. All reports are in, but it’s a waiting game now,” he said.
According to the FBI's 2024 Internet Crime Report, reported losses from internet crime exceed $6.5 billion. Business email compromise and payment-reversal schemes have increasingly targeted industries built on fast-moving vendor payments, including meetings and events.
A Real Organization — and a Fake Identity
After the reversal, Davis contacted the American Coatings Association directly. He was connected with Jeff Wasikowski, the organization’s general counsel, who confirmed that no employee named Crystal Davis had ever worked for ACA.
According to Wasikowski, multiple event planning firms nationwide reported similar outreach from the same individual. The scammer had registered a fraudulent domain closely resembling ACA’s legitimate email address.
“We have received reports from at least a half a dozen event planning firms about this individual posing as a representative of our company,” Wasikowski said. “The domain was registered in bad faith without ACA’s knowledge.”
ACA pursued action under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, resulting in the fraudulent domain being shut down.
Protecting Against ACH Scams
Nacha (formerly the National Automated Clearing House Association), the organization that governs the ACH Network in the U.S., recommends that businesses closely monitor account activity and report unauthorized transactions immediately, as recovery options depend heavily on the timing of the transaction.
Other protective measures include avoiding check payments, training employees to recognize business email compromise schemes, and independently verifying any changes in payment instructions by phone
Planners should consider delaying vendor disbursements until funds are fully settled and verified with financial institutions.
For Davis, the experience underscores how easily trust-based collaboration can be exploited.“It looked like every other event we produce,” he said. “That’s why it worked.”
