Fake California womens festival used AI slop ads to trick vendors into paying $185

Sonoma County women are furious after an unknown scammer circulated AI-generated ads for a “Wine Country Women’s Festival” that seemed to dupe even local officials.The festival was supposed to take place this Saturday at Keiser Park in the town of Windsor, and ads began circulating in the summer on social media, promoting opportunities for local businesses, nonprofits, schools and community groups to participate.According to suspicious-looking ads on its still-active Instagram page, the festival pledged to “support women” and “build community” with hands-on sessions, live performances and “meaningful conversations.”A now-defunct website offered vendors a 10-by-10 foot space for $79, $132 tickets for “food truck partners” and $185 “Home & Garden Showcase Partner” tickets.The organizer even submitted a rental application in July, which the town processed.

There was also a deposit and certificate of insurance for an expected large gathering with upwards of 1,500 attendees.But in September, two local women began raising alarms about the event.“We tried to contact the event planner and didn’t receive any return to our phone calls or emails,” Olivia Lemen, Windsor’s parks and recreation director, told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

Late last month, officials began warning people about the event’s legitimacy.The application was canceled after unpaid fees.“This is the first time that we’ve really had an event planner pay for a deposit and the certificate of insurance and then not follow through with paying the fees and having an application canceled,” Lemen said.

One vendor reported the event to the Better Business Bureau after paying the booth fee, SFGate reported, and Windsor police told the Press Democrat that it received one report of fraud connected to the purported scam.One Sonoma mother said on social media that members of her mom’s group also fell for the scam and paid up.Another woman said she paid for the vendor ...