The big day is on the way! You’ve been planning your wedding with love and care, and finally all your hard work is about to pay off. Or perhaps you are a wedding guest, prepared to attend this exciting event. Whether you are a member of the bridal party or a supportive attendee, you want this wedding to go perfectly for everyone!
Someone else may be excited for this event too—a scammer! Wedding scams are a sad reality that many brides, grooms, and guests have to deal with. From drastically overpriced gowns to shady vendors refusing to return deposits, wedding scams can ruin this special day in the blink of an eye.
The online world makes it especially easy for fraudsters to steal your money and wreak havoc on wedding plans. However, a few cybersecurity measures can help keep scammers at bay and give you peace of mind.
Importance of cybersecurity in wedding planning
Cybersecurity is the protection of your digital devices, your online accounts, and your personal information that you store in these places. Think about all the private details you keep online or access via your smartphone, tablet, computer, etc. Cybersecurity puts measures and firewalls in place to keep hackers away from this important info.
Cybersecurity also helps protect you during various wedding stages! Creating new accounts on wedding planning websites? Putting hard-earned money toward deposits on venues and catering companies? Buying tickets and renting places to stay for a destination wedding? All these activities and more are often conducted online, meaning that cybersecurity is crucial to protect your wedding plans!
Learn the types of wedding scams to be proactive and diligent
When it comes to weddings, anybody could fall victim to a scam. Brides, grooms, other members of the bridal party, and guests are all at risk. Let’s look at some of the most common ways that a happy day can get ruined by a trickster with malicious intent.
Gown/tuxedo scams:
Lots of people order the dresses or suits of their dreams online these days. Unfortunately, that means that scammers create websites for the sole purpose of luring in shoppers and selling knock-off clothing at designer prices. These sites usually use photos of real designer clothing and labels to trick shoppers into believing their product is the real thing. Once you spend your money and receive the item, you may be shocked at how shabby and cheap the clothing may look.
You can tell if a website is trying to fool you when the clothing prices are too good to be true. A designer dress for only $100? That could be a scam. Quickly built websites often forget to include contact information, or they may have a short, incomplete sales agreement, or they may be based in foreign countries—three more red flags to look for.
Shop online only at established retailer websites. Use a secure credit card when you make your purchases so your credit card company can alert you if it does turn out to be a scam purchase.
Fraudulent wedding venues, vendors and planners:
Many people want to get married in a beautiful location. You may be willing to part with a large chunk of money in return for a venue that fits the wedding of your dreams! But some venues might accept your money, lead you to believe they are preparing for the big day, and then cancel last minute. Or they may follow through with the event, but give you an unsatisfactory day without all the services they let you think that you were going to receive.
Vendors such as caterers, photographers, or videographers can also cause problems. You might pay a deposit for their services, but then they “regret to inform you” that they won’t make it to your wedding. Or they may provide subpar services that do not match your expectations—or the amount of money that you paid them. Some photographers and videographers may even show up and capture the day beautifully, but refuse to let you see the photos or videos until you pay more money.
Wedding planners are often essential to help you prepare for the big day with confidence and ease. However, some planners might help you plan your day—and take your money—but then cancel or fail to fully perform the promised services.
Ask every venue, vendor and planner for specifics on their services in advance. Check out their professional website! If they don’t have one, that could be a warning sign. Look up reviews. Ensure that any agreements you make are in writing and signed by all parties. Do what you can to make sure these services are legitimate before handing over your money to them.
Travel scams:
Travel fraud can happen when you are a wedding guest. If you are invited to a wedding, you are excited to plan your day, map out your trip, or book your tickets for the big event. But before you click those links or confirm those payments, double-check that your money is truly going where you want it to!
- Ensure that the websites you are using are legitimate (look for HTTPS: at the beginning of the site URL).
- Use two-factor authentication to help ensure that your login credentials are secure.
- Don’t purchase your tickets via public Wi-Fi, where hackers may be lurking to steal your financial info.
- Avoid clicking on links in unexpected emails or texts that are promising “amazing travel deals.”
Cybersecurity for your wedding plans
Protecting personal data during wedding planning should be a priority. Whether you are getting married, helping the happy couple on their big day, or simply celebrating your friends and family, cybersecurity is essential to help keep your preparations safe and peaceful. When you’re planning a wedding, you have your guests’ names and addresses. Protecting personal data during wedding planning is one of the best ways you can ensure your safety and the safety of your guests’ data as well.
IDShield offers the cybersecurity you need to help you get hitched without getting a hitch in your plans! Stay safe with world-class VPN security, malware protection, parental controls, and password protection so you can safely shop and register for services online. We monitor your information on the dark web and social media platforms to alert you about suspicious activity. We can help locate your sensitive information on data broker sites and help you remove it.
And if identity theft does occur, we offer full-service identity restoration with licensed private investigators to help restore your identity to its pre-theft status. You can have our $3 million Identity Fraud Protection Plan to cover certain fraud expenses and legal costs as a result of a covered identity fraud event.
Take steps today to protect your privacy!
Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (“PPLSI”) provides access to identity theft services through membership-based participation. IDShield is a product of PPLSI. All Licensed Private Investigators are licensed in the state of Oklahoma. The information made available in this blog is meant to provide general information and is not intended to provide professional advice, render an opinion, or provide a recommendation as to a specific matter. The blog post is not a substitute for competent and professional advice. Information contained in the blog may be provided by authors who could be third-party paid contributors. All information by authors is accepted in good faith; however, PPLSI makes no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of such information.
