Local fraud expert weighs in on potential scam

We’re continuing to follow a story NewsChannel 13 first brought to you Saturday about a group of ladies who believe they may have been scammed.

The group registered to go to an adult prom at the Saratoga Hilton through Eventbrite, only to find out there was no prom.

NewsChannel 13 spoke to J. Michael Skiba. He’s an international cybercrime expert. He watched our story Saturday. He did some online searching. He can’t say for certain, but he believes what took place is likely a scam.

Deanna Kirk and some friends saw an ad online about an adult prom taking place on May 7. She and her friends registered for the event through Eventbrite. Employees at the Saratoga Hilton say someone reached out to the hotel inquiring about having an event, but never signed the contract or reached back out. So, therefore, there was no prom.

The ladies held their own small event Saturday at Congress Park. However, the ladies spent a lot of money for the event. The online host of the event is listed as Broadway Events. Skiba searched the online ad.

On the bottom where Broadway Events is listed, you keep running into dead ends when you try to click on the social media apps. Also, there is no active link that can connect you to an email address.

"That’s a big flag too as well. If you’re trying to actually reach an actual person, you know, and you’re hitting walls, you know that means there is no actual person to actually talk to," said Skiba.

"We couldn’t find any evidence of this company at all by using Google and the handles provided," said Kirk.

It’s important to note that there is a legitimate company called Broadway Events in New York City. We spoke to the owner to make him aware of what was going on. He had no idea someone else was using their company’s name.