Exhibitors Avoid Event Scams

As an exhibitor (or even an attendee), you may receive unsolicited emails and phone calls from various companies offering to sell an event's "attendee list." This type of scam affects trade associations nationwide, with scammers primarily attempting to phish for personal information.

XPO Exhibitions does not rent, share, or sell attendee lists to any third parties.

These companies are not affiliated with the event and are not authorised to contact exhibitors. Please do not reply to these requests.

Key Points to Remember:

• Nearly all third parties offering to sell attendee lists are engaged in a scam. Do not respond to the email or purchase these lists.
• We take protecting your data seriously. Learn more by reading our Privacy Policy: xpo.co.nz/privacy-policy
• Your best course of action is to file a report with the Department of Internal Affairs and Netsafe.

How the Scam Works:

Are you receiving email offers to purchase attendee lists? They actually want you to respond to "opt out" in order to validate your information.

Scammers utilise web crawlers or email "scraper" programmes to gather data from social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, as well as company websites. They seek out information such as exhibitor lists and floor plans, which are readily available on Google, to pinpoint target companies. By analysing the email patterns of these companies, scammers test various formats and send out phishing emails to verify valid addresses. Subsequently, they launch mass email campaigns to assess the legitimacy of the gathered email addresses. If you publicly announce your attendance or exhibition at a conference on social media, scammers can exploit this information.

What You Can Do:

1. If you receive an attendee list scam email, do not respond or engage with the sender. Instead, follow your organisation's policy for reporting spam. You can also block the sender's email address.

2. File a report. The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) & Netsafe have created a process for individuals and companies to report these activities. The DIA & Netsafe will share these reports with law enforcement partners to assist with investigations and help stop these practices.

   • Report Spam to DIA
   • Report to Netsafe