How to spot a fake craft fair
Fake craft fairs are real, they cost makers money, and most can be spotted in five minutes. Check these five things before you pay any stall fee, and you will avoid the large majority of scams.
The short version
- Find a real person. Look for a named organiser with an address and contact details you can check, not just a social media page.
- Check the venue. Ring or message the venue directly and ask whether the date is booked. Use contact details from the venue's own website, not from the advert.
- Check the history. Has the fair run before? Look for past photos and stallholders who will talk about it.
- Get the terms in writing. A real organiser will send a booking confirmation, price, date, and cancellation terms.
- Pay in a way you can trace. Avoid paying a personal bank account by bank transfer if you can use a card or another method that offers some protection.
If any of these checks fails, walk away. A real fair will still be there after you have asked questions.
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How fake fair scams work
Most fake-fair scams follow one of a few patterns. Knowing them makes them much easier to spot.
- The copied advert. Someone takes the photos, text and dates from a real fair, posts them on a new page or in a group, and asks stallholders to pay a fee to a different account. The real fair carries on as normal and the real organiser knows nothing about it.
- The fair that never existed. A new page or listing invents an event, often at a real and attractive venue, and takes stall fees from as many makers as it can before it disappears.
- The cloned or hijacked page. A scammer copies a trusted organiser's page name and logo, or takes over an old or inactive page, and uses the trust that the page has already built.
- The last-minute space. A message says a stall has just become free, but only if you pay today. The pressure is the point.
- The changed payment details. A real organiser's booking email is intercepted or imitated, and the bank details are changed just before you pay.
The common thread is that you are asked to pay quickly, in a way that is hard to trace, before you have had a chance to check.
Red flags
One red flag is a reason to ask questions. Two or more is a reason to walk away.
| Red flag | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| No named organiser, address or phone number | A real fair has someone you can speak to |
| A brand-new page with few posts, no history and recent followers | Scam pages are often created days or weeks before the event |
| Pressure to pay today, or "only two spaces left" | Urgency stops you checking |
| Payment only by bank transfer to a personal account | Hard to trace and hard to recover |
| The account name doesn't match the organiser or business | A sign the money is going somewhere else |
| Photos that look copied from a different fair or a stock image | Scammers reuse real photos |
| The venue doesn't know about the event | The booking may not exist |
| Prices far below, or far above, similar fairs in the area | Unrealistic pricing is a lure, or a sign of inexperience |
| No terms, no booking confirmation, no cancellation policy | A real organiser expects to give you these |
| The organiser won't talk on the phone or on a video call | Avoiding contact is a warning |
| Spelling and grammar errors, or a different style from the organiser's usual posts | Could be an imitation |
A red flag doesn't prove a fair is fake. Many genuine organisers are new, or small, or poor at writing adverts. That is why the next section is about checking, not guessing.
How to check a fair before you pay
This takes about ten minutes and is worth doing for every fair you haven't done before.
- Search for the fair. Search its name with "scam", "reviews" and the organiser's name. Look at the results for past years too.
- Look at the organiser's page. How long has it existed? Are there years of posts, comments from real people and photos from past events? A page with only recent posts is a warning.
- Find the venue's own contact details. Use the venue's website or a search, not the number or email in the advert. Ask whether the date is booked and who by.
- Ask other stallholders. Post in a group you trust and ask who has traded with this organiser. Look at how long those accounts have been around.
- Speak to the organiser. Ring them, or ask for a video call. Ask about expected footfall, how many stalls there will be, how the fair is promoted, and what happens if it is cancelled.
- Get everything in writing. Ask for a booking confirmation with the date, venue, price, setup time and cancellation terms.
- Check where the money goes. The account name should match the organiser or their business. If it doesn't, ask why before paying.
- Ask about insurance. Many organisers ask stallholders to have public liability insurance, and a professional organiser should be able to say what cover they have for the event.
- Keep a record. Save the advert, messages and payment confirmation. If something goes wrong, you will want them.
If an organiser gets cross when you ask these questions, treat that as information.
Paying safely
How you pay changes what you can do if something goes wrong. None of these methods is a guarantee, so check first and pay second.
| Method | What to know |
|---|---|
| Credit or debit card, or a card payment link | You may be able to ask your card provider to recover the money if the fair doesn't exist. Ask them what is available for your card, such as a chargeback or, for some credit card payments, a claim under Section 75 |
| PayPal goods and services | Offers a dispute process that bank transfers don't. Check PayPal's own rules before relying on it |
| Bank transfer (Faster Payments or CHAPS) | Hard to reverse once sent. Since October 2024, UK banks must reimburse many customers who were tricked into sending money to a fraudster, up to £85,000 per claim, but it is not automatic and your bank will decide. You must report the fraud within 13 months |
| Cash | Not covered by the bank reimbursement rules and very hard to recover |
A few habits help whichever you choose:
- Pay to an account in the organiser's or business's name, and ask if the name is different.
- Never pay because of a rushed message. Take the time to complete the checks above.
- If payment details change by email or message, ring the organiser on a number you already trust and confirm them.
- Keep screenshots of the advert, the messages and the payment.
If you've already paid
Don't be embarrassed. These scams catch careful, sensible people, and the quicker you act, the better your chances.
- Contact your bank or card provider straight away. Use the number on the back of your card or on their official website. Tell them you think you have been the victim of a scam and ask what they can do.
- Stop all contact and don't pay anything more. Be wary of anyone who offers to recover your money for a fee.
- Keep the evidence. Save the advert, messages, payment confirmation and the page or profile address.
- Report it. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, report to Report Fraud, the national service that replaced Action Fraud, or call 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.
- Tell the platform. Report the page or group to Facebook or wherever you saw it, and tell the real organiser if a real fair was copied.
- Tell Bookastall. If the fair is listed here, use "Report an issue with this listing" on its page so we can look at it quickly and protect other makers.
If you paid by bank transfer, ask your bank about reimbursement as soon as you can and say clearly that you were tricked into paying a scammer.
For visitors and shoppers
Fake events don't only cost makers. They waste visitors' time and travel, and some charge for tickets that never turn into an event.
- Check the venue and date. Look at the venue's own website or social page to see whether the event is listed.
- Be wary of paid tickets. Most craft fairs are free or low-cost on the door. Be cautious if you are asked to pay a large amount in advance, or to a personal account.
- Look at the organiser's history. An established organiser has past photos, real comments and local press.
- Check recent posts. If there is no news of the fair in the days before, ask the venue or the organiser.
- Be careful with links. Only buy tickets from the venue's or organiser's own site or a ticket seller you recognise.
If you think an event is fake, report it to the platform where you found it and tell Bookastall if it is listed here.
How Bookastall helps
Bookastall can't stop every scam, but it is built to make them harder to run and quicker to catch.
- Verified organiser badge. Organisers earn it through account history or by linking a booking or permit reference. It is a signal to check alongside the other steps, not a guarantee.
- Report an issue. Every fair listing has a "Report an issue with this listing" link. Reports go to a person, and listings that attract several reports from different people are taken down while we check them.
- Copy detection. We flag new listings that closely match the text or images of an existing one.
- Claim a listing. Real organisers can claim their listing, so copied versions are easier to spot.
- Stallholder reviews. After a fair, stallholders can say whether it happened as advertised, so good organisers build a visible track record.
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Sources
This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Rules and reporting services change, so check the official pages below.
- Which?: Report Fraud, what does this new era of fraud reporting mean (Report Fraud service, phone number and Scotland)
- MoneyToTheMasses: What are the new APP fraud reimbursement rules? (bank transfer reimbursement limit and time limit)
- Report Fraud (official reporting service for England, Wales and Northern Ireland)