Food festivals across UK exploited in AI-powered scam, BBC finds

British nutrient festivals are being utilized to people tiny nutrient and trade businesses successful a scam made imaginable by artificial quality (AI).

A BBC Wales probe recovered dozens of traders received professional-looking emails purporting to beryllium from festivals with immoderate requests for wealth lone coming aft aggregate emails are exchanged.

One trader whose "heart sank" erstwhile she discovered she had mislaid money, said that contempt spotting scams regularly, the aggregate emails she exchanged were "so realistic" that she fell for one.

Abergavenny Food Festival said the accessibility of AI meant scammers could scope much radical with scams that look "far much believable".

Harriet Thomas had applied for a basal astatine the Abergavenny Food Festival connected erstwhile years, and was "really excited" erstwhile an email came offering her the accidental to publication a spot for her knitting workshops.

She said that arsenic she spent truthful overmuch clip connected a machine moving her business, she was utilized to seeing scams, but this clip "nothing sparked a reddish flag".

Unlike different scam emails, the 1 successful question "looked wholly genuine" including the email code it had been sent from.

"[I] filled successful a jot form, which is thing we usage each the clip and again, each the fonts, everything, [and] the branding was wholly legitimate," she said.

She said she had been reassured by consequent email exchanges which showed the sender had elaborate cognition of the Abergavenny festival tract and facilities connected offer, until she yet paid for a pitch.

It was lone aft she published a Facebook station to accidental she would beryllium astatine the festival, that she saw a societal media station from the existent 1 informing astir the scam emails.

"My bosom conscionable sank. I was truthful embarrassed," she said.

Despite publicising her acquisition to pass different traders and reporting the scam, she said she did not cognize however they could beryllium stopped.

"It's getting much and much competitory to effort and get a stall astatine these events. So radical are much apt to capable a signifier successful rapidly thinking, I really, truly privation to marque definite I unafraid my space," she said.

Scam emails seen by BBC Wales that utilized the branding, details and adjacent the names of unit from nutrient festivals close crossed the country, including Narberth, York, Broadmead, Ludlow, Mold, the Forest of Dean, Newport and St Fagans.

Andy Fryers who coordinates Abergavenny Food Festival said the fig and credibility of the scams it had seen had made things "much much difficult" for them this year.

There was nary conclusive impervious the scam was powered by AI, but experts person said it would not person been imaginable 5 years ago.

"I deliberation it's the improvement of AI and the casual accessibility of it now," Fryers said.

"Anyone tin get connected to Claude oregon ChatGPT, oregon whichever 1 you privation to spell with, and wrong a fewer minutes get it to hunt retired each traders successful a definite area, get interaction details, hunt our website, get interaction details, marque up a mates of Gmail accounts.

"It's precise straightforward and rather inexpensive and you tin broad attack these things."

The astir caller figures from Report Fraud - the reporting work for cyber transgression and fraud crossed England, Wales and Northern Ireland - echo that, with an summation of 395% successful reports which were linked to AI during 2025-26 compared to the erstwhile year.

With galore festivals ran by volunteers and attended by small, section traders, Fryers said seeing the emails that utilized his sanction had initially been a shock.

"You tin consciousness similar this idiosyncratic is targeting you, and erstwhile we archetypal started getting these it felt a small spot similar idiosyncratic trying to bash implicit the festival," helium said.

"But really you realise erstwhile you commencement seeing different festivals being targeted by the aforesaid thing, you realise really it's not. This is simply a computer-generated thing.

"Obviously someone's putting it successful but... it isn't personal, it's conscionable idiosyncratic trying to scam you, it's conscionable idiosyncratic trying to marque a speedy buck."

Another section institution paid £400 to the scammers and bought banal to merchantability astatine the festival earlier they realised they had been scammed.

The festival managed to find abstraction for them astatine a discounted price, but organisers said they disquieted that if others crook up connected the time having been caught out, it whitethorn not beryllium imaginable to assistance them also.

Giles Mason, who runs the Take 5 to Stop Fraud run astatine UK Finance which represents the banking and concern industry, said scam emails utilized to beryllium "riddled with spelling mistakes, mediocre grammar".

"The usage of AI means that that has been wiped out, and besides utilizing benignant of authoritative looking imagery, graphics, to marque it look arsenic convincing arsenic imaginable arsenic well," helium said.

He said that targeting sole traders oregon volunteer-run operations was an effort to bypass the information systems of large companies similar banks who person had to "invest heavy successful stopping scams and gathering precise unafraid systems to support their customers".

Two-thirds of these types of scams present commencement done interaction online.

But with £1.3 cardinal stolen done fraud and scams, past year, helium said that if you person an email, telephone oregon text, "particularly if it's retired of the blue, conscionable instrumentality that infinitesimal to halt and think".

He said: "If it's a genuine organisation, they won't caput you taking that infinitesimal to stop.

"Go to the company's authoritative website and interaction the organisation done the details connected determination truthful you cognize you're dealing with them nonstop and not with the scammer."