Church speaks out after Facebook craft fair scam

A church in East Yorkshire has fallen victim to a social media scam which could have defrauded people out of money, a vicar has said.

St Mary's in Beverley has issued a warning after an advert for a bogus craft fair at the church asked traders to reserve a stall for £30.

The Reverend Becky Lumley told the BBC the post was a "surprise" and they did "all they could" to stop it from circulating.

Humberside Police said it was working with the church to protect any potential victims.

Officials at the church said they were alerted to the scam last week after a Facebook post claimed to be looking for stallholders for a summer craft fair.

Ms Lumley said: "I had to check my diary just to make sure because there's a lot going on.

"We quickly realised this was a case of somebody trying to defraud people in our name and the church's name, which is really terrible.

"The church is a such place of trust and community. We don't want anyone being picked up by people who are willing to try and take their hard earned money off them."

Ms Lumley urged anyone who may have fallen for the scam to contact the police.

"I do know of friends who thought it was real and had started the process, and I'm very grateful that we got there before they parted with their money," she said.

"Social media can be a great place to be. But, like anywhere, you will always get people who will try and take advantage."

A spokesperson for Meta, which owns and operates Facebook, said it has taken down the post and disabled the account behind it.

They added: "We don’t want anyone to fall victim to these criminals which is why our platforms have systems to block scams.

"We also work closely with law enforcement and encourage our community to report scams immediately so we can take swift action."

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