Sadly, exhibition fraud is still an issue facing the industry and the range of scams and how they are circulated continues to increase, please read the information below and circulate it to your colleagues working on the event, particularly those who are new to exhibitions and are more likely to be caught out.
Scammers will target exhibiting companies and may use the MACH logo or MTA logo to add authenticity to their claims.
Common Scams include:
- ‘Expo Guide’ types where a fee is paid for inclusion in catalogues
- Visitor Data Scammers – who offer access to the MACH Visitor Database
- Stand Charge or Service Charge Invoices – where a fake invoice is sent pretending to come from the organisers
- ‘Official’ Accommodation Agents who pretend to book hotel rooms and make travel arrangements
- LinkedIn or Social media scams which offer pavilion stands at discounted rates
How to Protect Yourselves
Know what you are entitled to as a MACH Exhibitor:
- MACH includes all our standard website and catalogue listings in your stand price; if you are asked to pay a fee be suspicious! Extra charges for items like adverts and sponsorship will only be issued after you have signed a contract with us so keep you finance teams updates with what you have ordered.
- MACH is strictly compliant with GDPR regulations – we never give out access to the visitor database so if someone offers it to you IT IS A SCAM!
- Our T&Cs list everything that is included with your stand type, be certain what you have contracted for and be wary of additional invoices.
Invoices & Official Paperwork
- MACH is owned and organised by the MTA – all official paperwork will list the MTA not ‘MACH’ as the owning company
- Our MACH contacting system is run through a platform called ‘PandaDocs’ they will appear from this address: PandaDoc [email protected]
- Email communications from us will all have the @mta.org.uk address. The only other address you may see from time to time is @adfield.co.uk as our marketing firm and principal contractor they are authorised to communicate with exhibitors on our behalf.
- All companies are assigned a unique refence starting ‘M-‘ this will be listed on your invoices and you can ask us to verify your company number when speaking to us if you are concerned.
Be safe not sorry – if you are not sure about an invoice or an email send it to the MACH Team at [email protected] and we will be able to confirm if it is genuine.