Tips to keep scammers from ruining your wedding day
Distracted brides and grooms can be targets for scammers. Credit: Getty Images / iStockphoto / andriikobryn
Summer is all about weddings. But what is supposed to be one of the best days of your life can be far from that fantasy if you’re a victim of fraud.
Your big day can be a big opportunity. “Scammers take advantage of distraction, and few things in life are as exquisitely discombobulating as planning a wedding,” says Adam Levin, author of “Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers and Identity Thieves.” Also, the bride and groom may not be familiar with event details — contracts, rentals, hiring. “You have fertile ground for fraud.”
What can go wrong and how can you protect yourself?
- Get references. Take the example of a flower vendor that assures you they make breathtaking arrangements for a fraction of the cost of other places. “All you have to do is write them a check for the flowers and they’ll handle everything. But they don’t show up on the wedding day,” Levin says. Get references, and don’t pay in full up front.
- What you don’t know can hurt you. Samantha Frontera of Chicago got hit with $5,000 in extra, hidden fees. Among other things, “The contract for my wedding hall never included the gratuity and taxes, and we had to purchase a wedding album from our photographer for an extra $1,000, after we already agreed on a price.” Make sure everything is spelled out in writing. Ask: Will there be any additional fees or charges?
- Be careful online. Online giveaways could leave brides-to-be susceptible to online phishing scams. Warns Anil Gupta, a vice president at MarkMonitor, an online brand protection firm in San Francisco, “Posing as a legitimate vendor hosting an online contest, cybercriminals could gain access to personal information such as credit card info and bank account numbers.”
'It's personal to me' The law would require businesses to have proper state licensing, prove that their employees are paid and ban staff from living at the spas or sleeping there overnight. Repeat offenders could face penalties up to $25,000. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.
'It's personal to me' The law would require businesses to have proper state licensing, prove that their employees are paid and ban staff from living at the spas or sleeping there overnight. Repeat offenders could face penalties up to $25,000. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.
