This weekend was supposed to be the Boston 411 Spring Home & Bridal Show at the Hynes Center in Boston but instead, all that is left are thousands of duped victims, confusion and quite possibly, a changed attitude towards bridal shows in the future.
The main web site has been taken down since the news broke but sources tell eWN, authorities, including the FBI, are aggressively pursuing the culprits in what could be the wedding show scam of all time. What is left are bits and pieces of evidence to examine, including a Twitter account that dates back to September 16th, 2009. Dead links that no lead nowhere have the police stumped so far. Tweets wishing everyone happy holidays on December 21st , 2009 saying, “Happy Holidays! The Boston 411 Home & Bridal Show has over 6500 pre-registered attendees with very few booths... http://bit.ly/7TvdQG,” now seem ironic.
Local Police say the entire event was an elaborate scam that was able to lift money from attendees and vendors, raking in more than an estimated $150,000 over the past five months. The scammers used several Social Media formats including Twitter to publicize the event and channeled funds through PayPal to accept payments.
Wedding industry sources and show promoters remain mystified, leaving some to say, “How could this occur? In this day and age with all the researchable information available no one checked to see if the show was actually going to happen!
First some facts about the wedding industry: It is populated by professionals that love what they do; Caterers, DJ's, Photographers etc. Their goal is to provide the bride with a memorable day. Many understand bridal shows are an excellent way to connect with brides (and they are!) Sadly, many people believe what they read! So when an email claiming the show was occurring vendors started to put their money down, brides started to buy tickets,” says Richard Market of Bridal Expo in California. Markel and others are concerned the perception of bridal shows will be tarnished from now on, adding there could be little to change that information.
Vendors being quoted on the Internet admit they were almost taken in by to the scam. Some say the price of participation actually fell, as the date approached and claims of a nearly sold-out show contradicted themselves. Some skeptical vendors said they monitored the activity and planned to jump in when prices fell to certain levels.
eWedNews continues our coverage of this story, as new information is obtained.
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2010
Posted on 03/03/2010
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