Exhibitors at various events at the RAI are being approached by scammers. These parties send the exhibitors one or more forms, using the name of the relevant exhibition to make them think they were sent by the event or RAI Amsterdam itself.
They then ask exhibitors to check various details and sign the form.
If exhibitors do sign they are also agreeing to the ‘small print’, informing them that they agree to an advertising contract to an amount of €1,212 a year for a period of three years.
Never sign these types of forms! They were not sent by the RAI or any of our exhibition titles. Please get in touch with your contact person at the RAI if you have any doubts about a form or order confirmation received from the RAI.
These fraudulent acts have been going on worldwide for years and are very difficult to eradicate. The UFI (the global association of the exhibition industry) has therefore published a detailed warning on its site.
Although we have also contacted these fraudulent organisations many times to ask them expressly to stop their fraudulent activities, we never even receive a response.
The advice to all exhibitors is to completely ignore any communications from such companies. A response will only prove to the fraudulent companies that the exhibitor actually exists and likely lead to more unwanted communication.
Should you have inadvertently signed the form, we recommend taking the following steps:
- Send the organisation a so-called ‘in error’ letter (go to www.ufi.org for examples) or contact the project manager of the relevant exhibition)
- Never pay any invoices sent by these fraudulent organisations. They will email you, send letters and perhaps even call you and threaten to employ a debt collector – but they will never actually take any legal steps.