MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection issued a warning about scammers targeting food truck vendors.
With football season coming up, scammers are inviting vendors to participate in “fan events.” Scammers are requesting payment of “vendor fees” through apps like Cash App, Venmo, Zelle and PayPal.
Scammers are using several Gmail accounts to contact their targets because they want to avoid automated spam filters.
DATCP suggests that food trucks and similar businesses follow the steps listed below to protect themselves from scammers (their wording)
Avoid interacting with unexpected and unsolicited messages. Do not respond, click links, open attachments, or use contact information included in unsolicited and unverified emails.Pause, investigate, and verify. Instead of acting on a great offer right away, research the event details online. If there is no public information about the event, or if the event is real but its official contact information differs from the suspicious message, the message should be considered a scam.Remember: Scammers can “spoof” an email address, disguising it as a trustworthy source. Even if an email looks real, reach out directly to the organization using official contact information that can be found online.Do not pay fees through payment apps. A trustworthy organization will not demand payment through a peer-to-peer banking app, cryptocurrency, wire transfer, or with pre-paid gift cards.
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