Beware!!!!!!!!!!!
Online Pageant Scams
By: Crystal Kilkenny
Pageant Director
There are so many online pageant scams. Did you know that there are even scams going on inside pages & links which lead you to believe that they are reporting scams? Huh? What am I talking about? This is a good question.
Online pageant scams, so called message boards, have posts on there from others that have also been scammed. It looks like someone took the time to create such a great board/page, so that others could read about the online pageants that scammed them as well as the online pageants that did mail out their prizes. It all sounds good & legit so far. So an interested mother of a contestant goes on the board. As she scans through some of the posts, here is an example of what she reads….
Mother 1 Post: “I just received my gifts from (pageant name) The shipping is fast & prizes were beautiful. The director is so nice!”
The New mother thinks “Wow, here is a site I can get info on good pageants! “ She scrolls down a bit & the next one she reads says…
Mother 2 Post: “Has anyone heard from (pageant name)? It has been 3 months & the director won’t respond when I email. I posted something on her wall today asking about the prizes & she deleted me from her friends list.”
A few other contestants reply to Mother 2’s Post…..
Contestant 1 Reply: “I have not heard from her either. Does anyone know of a legitimate pageant that is running right now?
So the reader believes she found a site that was useful to her & so she request’s this page to be her friend. There are also other pageant directors on this page that will post: “Come see my pageant we end tonight.” The new mother or parent of the potential contestant feels like “Wow I really found a place where there is enough information I will never be scammed again.”
Now after being on there for a few days you start to notice the regulars. The reader then works the nerve up to ask a question just to see a response.
Reader: Does anyone know of any good pageants? Oh & the response is overwhelming.
Mother 1 Post: “(name of pageant) is great… I highly recommend…”
Mother 2 Post: “I have a list of the pageants I deal with” & provide a list of about 5 names of pageants.
Pageant Director Post: “I have a cash mini going on now & ends at midnight so hurry. “
(Reader does not notice yet, but the pageant director that responds is only minutes after mother 2, & this Director is also on mother 2’s list, which is the obvious reason)
Do you see where I am going with this? If not keep reading it will become clearer.
Second scenario goes like this:
Mother comes on to complain about how (pageant Name) has ripped her off. Never sent her prizes & the director shut downs her page/site & this is her real name, never to deal with her again. When the curious mother (new member/reader) goes to check out if this is true she searches for the site or page. She even goes & tries to search the supposed director’s name of course, wow, she cannot find anything. She looks on the scam page to see if maybe the ripped off mother has announced to her pageant scam buddies in previous post where she was doing a pageant & maybe there is a link.
No evidence at all that this person was ever entering a contest. No mention from the complaining mother in previous post asking did anyone hear of this pageant & is it reputable. As a person that belongs to a scam page wouldn’t you think she would ask this question? I mean this is what the page is created for. Isn’t it?
Yet wouldn’t you think most of these people came across this page because they have gotten scammed & they specifically searched this page out?
Then we have the Mother poster that is always posting for the same pageant. We will call her The Repeater:
Repeater Post: “(pageant Name) has a cash mini ending soon. They just need a few more entries. “
This post is posted every other day. So obviously this mother likes the same two or three pageants & they are very good in prizes n shipment time. These two pageants are also on another repeat posters list of best pageants. That list usually gets posted to the new mother of the group & you can tell who she is because she is the one asking for a good pageant.
Here is what is going on:
There is a group of online pageant directors (If not a group at least two or three). They decide let’s start a pageant scam page. They make their page as well as many personal pages. The personal pages are of “real people”. The “real people” are Mother 1, Mother 2, a few repeaters (for advertisements). These participants are on Facebook or the site for an unknown amount of time with no evidence of their longevity. This is apparent because all their settings are marked private & you are unable to see their background. There is a list of “real People”.
A new member or existing reputable pageant provider decides I am thinking about starting an online pageant or maybe they decide they want to post onto the site we are discussing earlier. The new posting gets buried quickly before any members can see it or there is an immediate response to not advertise on this page/link…again hmmm…Didn’t the previous posters and repeaters do just that? Why can’t new pageants be listed? Especially a reputable one?
Now when legitimate members question what is going on it is answered by repeaters & other select Pageant Directors. So the newbie pageant director decides to post her pageant & info for the pageant on the page. She is immediately told that this page is not for advertising. Scroll down a little there is them “Same” Pageants responding to members questions saying I have one right now. Something doesn’t seem right. It also is not posted anywhere that a pageant cannot post events.
After personally testing this theory myself & being told not to advertising on here, I went through all posts where directors are posting their events under questions & replied “Is this an Ad?” Under about 5 posts I made this comment. After figuring out how this all worked, I had a friend make a few posts herself to see the responses to a potential customer, She responds to a mother asking of any cash related pageants. The friend lists my pageant & the mother thanks her & says she will check it out. Within minutes the repeaters & other “regulars” are posting so many the new pageant that was displayed was quickly buried within minutes. A day later the entire conversation is lost to the postings of “the Regulars and Repeaters.”
The author of the page gets very upset & even rude if they are approached about the subject and the participants questioning them are deleted along with their posts. My friend’s posting led to a heated exchange and at that point my friend called her out on what this page really was. They pulled out their reinforcements & a person, not a regular, not someone my friend, nor have I ever seen on the page before, basically with no known activity on this page at all. This New member insulted me and my friend, as the page author could not do because it may make her look bad. We all have our weak moments. Who was the mysterious person? We didn’t have access to her profile because she was marked private, big surprise…and several days later that user’s account was deleted.
It has not been proven that this scam was also responsible for the pageants that did not pay out & then closed their sites/pages. I would like to think they are not responsible but one would conclude, could conclude & probably should conclude they are the same people. Because if the scams stopped completely then this page would not be as popular. It also would not make contestants want to stay with the same 5 online pageants but keep scamming your contestants on one site & they will only have confidence in your legitimate pageant…Wow what a marketing idea!!!
I believe a real scam page would have scam warnings at least once a year. Not that page. But I do have to give it to them for coming up with this scam. It was a very, very clever way to advertise, get all the traffic they needed as well as prey on all the vulnerable people. One tip I can give as a pageant director myself. Only deal with pageants that are licensed. Check your state. Also check out Pageants that have live pageants as well as online pageants. Directors that host live pageants put out a lot of money, time & effort into making their business successful & would not chance all their hard work just to rip off a few crowns from an online pageant. Directors that host live pageants also need licenses. They cannot just rip you off & delete their face book page or blog account. I also suggest before giving any money to anyone on any of these online sites to check to see if they have a real website. Look at their contact page and see if there is a phone number, email address or Google them. We have a Google link right at the bottom of our free Pageantry Scope Blog. It asks the question “Who is KaySar Productions?” Try it out and see what we are doing. But you could always call because we do live outside of the box of the social networks. We support causes and have reputable people involved with more than just online stuff. We put the safety of our participants first, whether live or online.
I do believe in Karma & if that site is the ones that are also ripping them off I do believe they will not be in pageantry for long. When I say clever idea or great marketing strategy I am by no means saying I believe this is right. I am simply just stating that is a cleaver SCAM. But then again most scams are right?
Hope this article was helpful. Please post any comments below. Check out the links we provided with this feature as well and thanks for reading another article that helps Redefine the Pageantry Industry.
