Sadly craft fair scams are the new trend for abuse and manipulation. As a way to help protect the community, the Laramie Plains Civic Center put together this list of red flags to watch out for whenever signing up for events- whether located at our building or somewhere else in town.

Red Flags to Watch Out For
1. Post doesn’t tag the location on Facebook. This shows that they do not want the associated “location” to be aware of their scam. This shows that they do not want us to be aware of their original posts as it would invalidate their “event.”
2. Application and payment information isn’t public. Any legitimate fair will be open and honest about the application and payment process.
3. Requests you get more information via a personal pm. Legitimate public events will want to get the word out to as many people as possible and will; therefore, tag our location as a means to spread the word. If you are ever unsure about an event happening in our building please call our office, 307-745-8000, as we are more than happy to confirm if an event is scheduled or not. In addition, we have public facility calendars posted on our website which will post any upcoming events. lpccwy.org. Even if an event is said to be happening not at the LPCC, I’m sure any event location in town would be happy to confirm.
4. Requests payment via personal Paypal or other online transfer. This is just a red flag in general and should be avoided unless confirmed.
5. Post will not include a poster/legitimate Facebook event page. Again, the point of a craft fair is to get the word out to as many people as possible. If the Facebook post does not seem to be advertised beyond the post itself, seek other avenues to confirm.

Over the past few years, the Laramie Plains Civic Center location has been used as the basis for fake craft fairs. The Laramie Plains Civic Center truly want to support our local artists and see these efforts of abuse as abhorrent. As mentioned above, PLEASE reach out to the Laramie Plains Civic Center to confirm any event that seems suspicious or that you are simply unsure of. The Laramie Plains Civic Center strives to support our artists and any efforts to make this knowledge wider known is helpful to build trust in our community and support artists/crafters.

Contact: http://lpccwy.org/contact-1 or (307) 745-8000