Amsterdam Cannabis Expo 2022 Is A Scam Reports BusinessCann

The 2nd mega Euro cannabis scam in 2022

Here’s what they’ve heard..

AN upcoming European cannabis conference, at which 10,000 cannabis companies were purportedly due to visit, is thought to be the latest scam to target the industry.

The Amsterdam Cannabis Expo, due to be hosted between November 24 and 26, 2022, is reportedly not taking place at all, leaving a number of would-be exhibitors scrambling to recover their lost cash.

BusinessCann has now heard from numerous sources who say that, after paying their invoice to exhibit, communication was cut and their money has disappeared.

The Conference

The Amsterdam Cannabis Expo 2022 is understood to have started advertising itself as early as 2020, launching a website and social media pages, and reaching out to a number of organisations with sponsorship offers.

Its website, which was only taken down last week, billed the event as an annual conference welcoming ‘thousands of industry professionals’ from ‘over 100 countries’.

Soon afterwards, a myriad of third-party websites, many of which are continuing to advertise the event, also added the event to their listings.

The three-day event was advertised as including a ‘prestigious awards show’ and a full agenda of speakers discussing ‘the latest trends’, and as offering exhibitors ‘the ideal opportunity to showcase your brand to the industry’.

At first glance, its website appeared completely legitimate, encouraging brands such as Orange County CBD to reach out.

Orange County CBD’s Melanie Hatjigiannakis told BusinessCann that they first came across the event in May this year when they were drafting a list of industry events to exhibit at throughout 2022.

“There was no immediate red flag at this stage, because the website was very well populated with information you would expect to see,” she said.

Upon closer inspection, the warning signs were apparent. Before the website was taken down, BusinessCann researched the event’s confirmed lead sponsors, finding them all to be entirely fabricated businesses.

Other businesses were contacted by the event directly with offers of sponsorship, though no information was given on what these packages would contain. One company noted that from the start of their conversations with the event, one-day tickets were already sold out, and only three-day tickets were available via bank-transfer payment.

Warning Signs

As the event grew closer, more glaring red flags began to emerge. Not only did the company fail to publish any information on its agenda up until its website was taken down, just two weeks from the apparent launch of the event, but its anonymous organisers were unable to answer any questions posed by would-be exhibitors.

Ms Hatjigiannakis explained: “We always first request a floor plan of available exhibition space before making any commitments. It was once the floor plan arrived that our first alarm bell started going off.

“This was because the floor plan had all the same-size blocks (exhibition spaces) drawn in, which is not possible. You would know this if you had exhibited at previous events. We also noticed that no other company names were indicated on the floor plan.”

All of the companies that BusinessCann has spoken to regarding the scam said that their only contact with the organisation was via a generic email address (contact@amsterdamcannabisexpo.nl) and that no names were ever given.

 

Learn more https://businesscann.com/amsterdam-cannabis-expo-2022-latest-scam-to-target-industry/

Primary Sponsor

 


Karma Koala Podcast

Top Marijuana Blog