Beware of Scams

My fellow wedding planners - BEWARE! An old scam has resurfaced. I received an email from Jessica Farrell of the UK stating she needed my help planning her wedding that was to take place in Atlanta. Needless to say, I was really excited and looking forward to the challenge. I recently started my business, so I was not aware of this scam.

My good friend, Randa Khafagy (see picture), who is brilliant at internet research, found out that my soon to be bride from the UK was a fraud - THANK YOU RANDA!!!! Apparently this scam has been going around for a while. Rashanda Anderson, founder of "The Bridal Party" received a similar email and talked about it in her blog, "After YES, Before I DO" dated November 11, 2007.

It's disheartening to know that there are people lirking in the winds trying to take advantage of you. But you know what? No weapon formed against me shall prosper. Below is a copy of the email I received:

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Hello, Compliment of the season to you all !

How are you doing? Thriving!!! My name is Jessica Farrell , from Enfield in middlesex UK (England ). I will be coming to Atlanta , GA after my shopping trip with my Husband David Rodin who's French by nature to start his new work with the Coca-cola Co. in Atlanta , GA and just before then we will be getting married on the 21st of March , 2009. We need a good venue for reception and ceremony / wedding planner to take care of our wedding both reception and ceremony. We require the best for the best memories for we & our children in future and as a matter of fact we have budgeted 30000$ for this special event. Also, we want the ceremony and reception event to take place in a location and we are expecting at most 60 guests on the day of our occassion because most of our families in Europe and our friends in South America will be present for the occassion. Also, we would like you to know the reception and ceremony will be taking place @ 1 location ,the ceremony takes place outdoor ( A garden setting will not be bad ) while the reception takes place indoors, that is why we are contacting you on this . Please let us know if you're able to help.

Sincerely, Jess & David