Farmers’ market vendor scams circulating via email: The Forks

A scam email targeting Manitoba vendors is asking them for a payment to secure a spot in a market that doesn't exist. Harrison Shin explains.

Farmers’ markets are a way to check out local vendors and connect with the community, but a scam email targeting vendors is making the rounds, disrupting the community connection.

In a blog post on Tuesday, The Forks said a group was promoting a non-existent farmers’ market, asking vendors to pay to secure a spot.

“Or, they’re tapping into the events that we are hosting and saying that they are wanting to get vendor fees sent to them,” Tineke Buiskool-Leeuwma, marketing and communications advisor at The Forks, told CTV News.

This, however, was not the first time such a case had occurred. In late March, an email was circulated among vendors, offering spots for an Easter weekend pop-up market and inviting them to fill out an application form.

In that form, vendors were asked to choose pricing for their spot, ranging from $250 to $800—and they were asked to pay within 48 hours if the application was approved.

“We don’t want to see anyone getting scammed,” Buiskool-Leeuwma said. “These events are really great. Great people are putting them on, and it does a lot of good for the community and the vendors.”

Danielle Mondor, executive director of St. Norbert Farmers’ Market, said this is a nationwide problem.

“We even get emails to be a vendor in other provinces, for markets that don’t exist,” she said.

CTV News reached out to the Winnipeg Police Service for any reported cases of such scams but did not hear back in time.

Both St. Norbert Farmers’ Market and The Forks are advising the public to check their websites for legitimate information. If there is any doubt, they are asking the public to email for verification.