Scammer is trying to defraud Norwalk Oyster Festival vendors, Better Business Bureau says
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning people about a scam involving the Norwalk Oyster Festival.
Jerry Toni, the executive director of the Norwalk Seaport Association, which runs the festival, told the BBB that a scammer is posing as his business and trying to defraud vendors.
The scammer contacted previous Norwalk Oyster Festival vendors and appeared credible, the BBB said. Toni said the vendors were asked to submit vendor applications and pay booth fees using non-traditional payment methods.
He also said the scammer appeared to have obtained legitimate vendor contact information, which they could have taken from prior festival application records, according to the BBB.
This year’s Norwalk Oyster Festival is scheduled for Sept. 11 to 13, but Toni told the BBB that the scamming started before the September 2025 festival and has continued ahead of this year’s, with a fake social media advertisement.
Toni is working with local police and the City of Norwalk Health Department to “monitor fraudulent food vendor permit activity connected to the scheme,” according to a press release from the BBB. He also told the BBB that when police investigated the scams last year, they tracked them to Kenya.
If you are a potential vendor for the Norwalk Oyster Festival, Toni asks that you visit the festival’s official website and call the festival’s phone number at 203-838-9444 to confirm before sending payment.
Festival officials said scammers are using the email vendoreventshow@gmail.com to perpetuate the scam. All official business of the Norwalk Oyster Festival will come from a @seaport.org email address, according to the BBB.
The BBB also says that if an event organizer insists on a digital wallet app payment, such as PayPal, Zelle, or Venmo, you should think twice, especially if someone asks you to pay using the friends and family function or send it to a strange email address.
“Remember that peer-to-peer payment systems are the same as paying cash. Once you’ve sent the funds, you cannot get them back,” the BBB wrote in a press release.
The BBB gave the following additional tips to avoid vendor scams:
- Do your homework by researching a festival or craft fair before you apply to be a vendor.
- If you can’t find anything on the person or company organizing the event in your research, that is a red flag.
- Don’t give in to intimidation tactics if an organizer pressures you to participate or is pushy about receiving payment without many event details.
You can report scams to the BBB at bbb.org/scamtracker.
From breaking news and local politics to art exhibitions, live music, high school sports, small businesses, and cultural events, we celebrate the people and places that make Connecticut unique.