Our show has earned a reputation for quality—and unfortunately, that also makes it a target for scammers who use our name to appear legitimate and profit at the expense of our makers and shoppers.
For the past several years, individuals and organizations with no connection whatsoever to the Nova Scotia Art & Craft Show Society have impersonated our show in an attempt to steal money from our community. We do everything we can to identify these scams quickly and warn people before anyone becomes a victim.
We report every fraudulent account, email address, website, application form, and social media post that we find. Unfortunately, despite repeated reports, it is often difficult to get these platforms to remove them. Because of that, education and awareness remain our best defence.
Below are the current scams we are aware of and the steps you can take to protect yourself.
1. Fraudulent Vendor Invitations and Applications
Over the past several weeks, scammers have created fake social media posts, email addresses, and Microsoft Forms that impersonate the Nova Scotia Art & Craft Show Society in an attempt to convince people to send them money.
To make their scams appear legitimate, they sometimes steal and reuse our graphics without permission, while other times they generate new images using AI. They use our Society name, our show name, and copy information directly from our website to make their communications appear authentic.
The scammers have also created a Gmail address that is designed to look like it belongs to us—but it does not.
For your protection, if you ever contact us to verify whether a message is legitimate, our reply will always come from an email address using our official domain (@nsartcraftshow.ca), not from a Gmail address.
If you are ever unsure whether a message, application, or payment request is genuine, please contact us through the contact information listed on our official website before sending any money.
Please do not send any money unless you are communicating directly with the Nova Scotia Art & Craft Show Society through our official website and official application process.
How the scam works
The scammers may:
- Create fake Facebook posts advertising vendor applications.
- Contact artists directly by email—even if they never applied to our show.
- Send links to fake Microsoft Forms, Google Forms, or any other service that appear to be vendor applications or acceptance forms. We never use Microsoft Forms, Google Forms or any other service for exhibitor applications. All official applications are completed directly on our website at nsartcraftshow.ca.
- Claim that applicants have been accepted without going through our official application and jury process.
- Send payment requests that do not originate from our official @nsartcraftshow.ca email addresses.
- Pressure people to pay quickly to “reserve” a booth.
None of these communications come from us.
How our application process actually works
Our process is very different.
- Applications open only during our advertised application period. (February)
- Applications are accepted only through our official website.
- Once applications close, we do not recruit exhibitors or invite people to apply.
- If a space becomes available, we contact exhibitors only from our existing waitlist.
- We do not send random invitations asking artists to apply.
- Booth payments are never requested through random Gmail accounts or unsolicited emails.
Current Status
- Our November 2026 show is already full.
- If an exhibitor cancels, that space is offered to someone already on our official waitlist.
- We are not actively seeking new applications, but do maintain a waitlist VIA OUR WEBSITE ONLY.
How to protect yourself
If you receive any message claiming to be from us:
- Verify that it came through our official website.
- Be suspicious of unsolicited invitations to apply.
- Never send payment to an email address that is not our official domain @nsartcraftshow.ca
- Contact us before sending money if you are unsure.
Reporting these scams
We actively report every fake account, fake application, and fraudulent email that we discover.
Unfortunately, removing them is often a slow process.
The best protection is awareness, so if you know another artist or maker, please consider sharing this information.
Please view the images below for a visual reference of what these scams often look like. Clicking on the image will enlarge it.
Update – The follow up email
The scammers also send “follow-up emails” — sometimes telling you that you have been selected and now need to pay, and other times asking for a “refundable deposit.”
We never require a refundable deposit in this manner. There is no amount you pay to participate in our show that we then hand back to you if you’ve been “well behaved” at the show. This is some other level of absurdity.
Please laugh at these emails, delete them, and do not respond.
Here are 2 examples:
2. Annual Accommodation Scam
The annual scam from a company based in the USA.
For the past few years they have sent emails offering accommodation at local Nova Scotia hotels using our event name to make it look legit. It is not. We do not work with foreign booking companies. We will never send accommodation booking links through a third party. These emails are either outright phishing scams or sneaky “legitimate” bookings loaded with hidden fees padding their pockets.
If it didn’t come directly from us, don’t click it.
Don’t share personal or financial information.
Don’t hit “unsubscribe” — that just confirms your email address to the scammers.
When we have official show details and info to share, it will come directly from our verified account , and/or be on our official website— same as always.
How did they get your email address?
If they sent you an email, this is probably your first question — and we want to be upfront with you: there has been no breach of our database. Your information was not taken from us.
These companies just scour the internet for local makers in our area — social media profiles, market directories, craft fair listings, business websites, anywhere your name and email might appear publicly. They cast as wide a net as possible, grabbing any email they can find for people who might plausibly be interested in booking a hotel near our show. They don’t verify or refine their list — which is why you might get one of these emails even if you live five minutes from the venue. They simply don’t know, and they don’t care.
Unfortunately this one happens often and not just to us, but many shows. Scammers pull event info off the internet and count on people not paying close attention. That’s not us. We look out for each other.
So please — stay alert, not just for our show but for any local events you follow. If something looks suspicious, reach out. I’ll always do my best to help protect our community.
Thanks for staying vigilant and supporting local makers. 
— Miranda
(Show Director)