‘We were floored’: Out of the Cold shelter impacted by craft fair email scam

“We had submitted payment as requested through an e-transfer.”

Stein added the scammers followed back to ask for proof that the money had been sent, which was also provided.

“We just assumed that everything had moved forward,” Stein said, noting preparations then got underway to make candles, bracelets, t-shirts and other knickknacks to sell.

“The guests of our shelter put in so much work to get ready.”

Screenshot of the email ‘confirming’ the Out of the Cold Shelter’s ‘application’ for the Craft-A-Fair. (Image Credit: Out of the Cold Shelter Society)

Stein said she later recalled that it was “strange” that they weren’t given any details – like what time to arrive on Sunday and what table to set up at – and that not having that information “raised some alarm bells.”

It was only when she contacted the RIH Foundation that she realized that Out of the Cold had been scammed out of $125, and that all that work to get ready for the sale might have been for nothing.

“They had no idea what I was talking about,” Stein said. “They said that ‘you’re not a vendor and we have no correspondence from you. We don’t accept payments by e-transfer’ and we were floored. Everybody had worked so hard and we had nothing.”

“It was shocking news to hear,” shelter client Dylon McLemore added.

McLemore had spent several hours over the past two weeks working on a painting for the sale, saying it’s part of his effort to try and better his life.

“To hurt an organization that is giving back to people and bringing community together, yeah, its devastating to think that someone could have the heart to do that.”

In confirming details of the scam, the RIH Foundation said it does not request or accept e-transfers for this event, nor does it use Gmail for official emails. It also said the scam has no effect on its online donation platform, and that payments processed through the official Blackbaud link remain secure.

It’s unclear who is behind this scam, but it is strikingly similar to one Kamloops Christmas Market organizers spoke out about earlier this fall.

“The fact that they were frauding the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation but also being okay with frauding a homeless shelter, that just breaks my heart that that would be something that somebody would feel comfortable doing to purposely inflict harm,” Stein said.

The RIH Foundation is also urging people to report all suspicious correspondence, and to reach out to confirm whether an email is legitimate. Stein said all is well in this case, as the foundation was able to accommodate them at this same, so it will be able to raise money for operations and the artists.

“Thankfully they were able to give us one last table,” Stein said. “Otherwise we would have shown up on Sunday morning with all the stuff that we created and we wouldn’t have been able to come inside.”

“That’s why it was really important to us to make sure that if there are other folks out there that this might have happened to that they are aware too. I would hate to see somebody standing outside the door on Sunday morning.”

by Victor Kaisar

‘We were floored’: Out of the Cold shelter impacted by craft fair email scam

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