When registrations for a race of the event close, runners who didn’t secure a place in the race are anxious to find an entry through blogs or social media. Fraudsters view this as an opportunity to scam people out of their money, claiming that they have an entry to resell.
In case you are searching for an entry through a replacement/ change in an entry’s name, here are a few things that you need to be aware of, in order to avoid potential scammers.
According to the event’s Terms and Conditions, a replacement of an entry is possible only if the Original Registered Runner sends a request for a replacement to the organizers via email, according to the event’s Registration Management section on our website. It is noted, that a penalty fee of 5.00€ is required for the replacement.
If you contact a person that is claiming to have an available entry for replacement, these are the step you need to follow:
1. First step is to ask that person to share the registered full name and registration ID code or, even better, their confirmation email from the event (this might be sent to you with a few sensitive personal info crossed/ blacked out).
2. Second step, is to call or email us in order to confirm the validity of the registration ID and registered runner’s name.
3. Third step is to ask them to copy (CC’) you to their email request to the organizers.
ATTENTION: The only valid email addresses for contacting our Registrations Department are:
info@athensauthenticmarathon.gr and registrations@athensauthenticmarathon.gr.
Make sure to double check for mismatched email names and domains. A common trick for scammers is to slightly alter the email name and/ or domain.
4. Do not accept screenshots as proof that the replacement request has been sent. 5. A scammer can produce an image with fake/ invalid information to mislead you into thinking that they have contacted the event. An example of a fake image produced is:
5. Do not proceed to any payment if you haven’t received a reply from the organizers.
6. If you received an email reply, but you are still uncertain don’t hesitate to contact us using the relevant info on our website www.athensauthenticmarathon.gr, in order to verify the legitimacy of the replacement request.
- Stop all forms of communication
- If possible, keep all communication history (emails, messages etc)
- File a complaint with both your local and Greek Authorities
- Report the transaction to your bank or financial institution
- Report the incident to the event via email
- Report the scam account to the social media or other platform they used to engage with you.
For more information click HERE
