AI-Driven Scam Targets UK Food Festivals — Traders Duped by Convincing Emails, BBC Investigation Reveals

Small food and craft traders across the UK are being targeted by highly convincing scam emails that impersonate festival organisers, a BBC Wales investigation has found. The messages often include accurate branding, staff names and local details, and only request payment after a series of realistic exchanges. Organisers and fraud experts warn that readily available AI tools make it easy to produce these believable, large-scale campaigns.

Harriet Thomas’s Experience

Harriet attends food and craft festivals and runs workshops across south Wales [Harriet Thomas]

Harriet Thomas, who runs knitting workshops across south Wales, said she had previously applied for a stall at the Abergavenny Food Festival and was thrilled to receive what she believed was an official offer. The email appeared genuine: it came from a plausible address, used the festival’s fonts and branding, and directed her to complete a JotForm—something she uses routinely for her business. Follow-up emails used her name and referenced specific site facilities, and she paid for a pitch before realising she had been scammed.

'My heart just sank. I was so embarrassed,' Thomas said after seeing a social media warning from the real festival organisers.

Scale And Patterns

For one weekend in September, the food festival takes over the market town of Abergavenny [Tim Woodier]

BBC Wales has seen fraudulent emails that replicate branding, staff names and event details from festivals across the country, including Abergavenny, Narberth, York, Broadmead, Ludlow, Mold, the Forest of Dean, Newport and St Fagans. One local company paid £400 and bought stock before discovering the fraud; the festival later found them a discounted pitch, but organisers worry they cannot help everyone who is duped.

Why AI Is Suspected

Food festivals such as Abergavenny are a labour of love for people like Andy [BBC]

Andy Fryers, coordinator of Abergavenny Food Festival, said the number and professionalism of these scams have made organising the event much harder. While there is no conclusive proof the operations are run directly by AI, Fryers and other experts say the sophistication and speed of the scams would have been unlikely five years ago. He noted how accessible tools such as ChatGPT and Claude can be used to harvest trader details, create email accounts and generate convincing messages quickly and cheaply.

Figures from Report Fraud — the service for reporting cyber crime and fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland — show a 395% rise in reports linked to AI in 2025-26 compared with the previous year. UK Finance’s Take 5 to Stop Fraud campaign also highlights that two-thirds of these scams begin with online contact, and that fraud losses reached around £1.3 billion last year.

Giles Mason tries to educate the public on how to avoid being scammed [UK Finance/ Giles Mason]

Advice For Traders

Giles Mason of UK Finance warned that AI has erased many of the easy-to-spot errors that once revealed scams: 'The use of AI means that that has been wiped out.' He advised traders to pause before responding to unexpected emails, calls or texts. If in doubt, go to the organisation’s official website and use the contact details there to verify any request for payment.

What Organisers Are Doing

Many festivals are volunteer-run and rely on small, local traders, which makes them attractive targets. Organisers are urging traders to be cautious, to double-check emails and payment details, and to report suspicious messages to festival teams and authorities so warnings can be shared quickly.

Key Takeaway

Convincing impersonation scams are on the rise and are likely being amplified by AI. Traders should verify any unexpected payment request via official festival websites or known contacts, and organisers should continue to publicise warnings and support affected vendors.