News
New York Anime Festival Warns Attendees of Cruise Scam
posted on by Egan Loo
Protoculture Addicts Editor-in-Chief Claude J. Pelletier and translator Miyako Matsuda report that VTS Global, a vendor at New York Anime Festival (NYAF) 2007, has been attempting to gather credit card information from them and other attendees by claiming they have won a free cruise to the Bahamas. VTS Global set up a booth at NYAF's exhibition hall that offered a drawing for a free cruise for people who filled out a form. The company then reportedly contacted Matsuda and others Monday to say they had "won" a cruise, but they must first pay US$299 for "taxes." VTS Global would not offer any other details unless a credit card number is given, and claimed it would select another "winner" if a card number is not provided.
NYAF has advised attendees to treat VTS Global as a scam and to report any contact to NYAF's management. NYAF programming manager and Reed Exhibitions staffer Peter Tatara told ANN that he is "making sure [VTS Global is] blacklisted from all of Reed's future shows." Attendees who did not fill a form for a purported free cruise drawing are not affected.
