One of the unfortunate side effects of building a successful event, such as Seatrade Maritime Qatar, is that scammers are drawn to it. Scammers target exhibitors pre-event trying to sell non-existent hotel rooms and directory entries, as well as purporting to offer attendee lists.

We take data protection extremely seriously. Details of all participants and attendees for all of our events, including Seatrade Maritime Qatar, are never, and will never, be sold or available for purchase. Equally, we would like to reassure our participants that the data we collect from you will never be passed to a third party without your expressed consent.

In the instance that you receive an email from an individual purporting to be a sales agent and offering a list of registered Seatrade Maritime Qatar attendees, please be aware that this individual is acting fraudulently and will only ever supply a selection of random contacts.

How are we tackling this?

Seatrade Maritime Qatar is part of Informa, whose legal department will send “Cease & Desist” letters to each scammer as we become aware of them.

However, new scammers spring up every day so please be aware and stay vigilant. A list of approved suppliers will also be found in the Show Exhibitor Manual, including:

• Hotel: W Hotel
• As well as any other companies selling staffing agencies, AV suppliers, stand contractors & graphics suppliers

Please note that Seatrade Maritime Qatar does not work with an outside agency on its event guides.

If you are contacted by a company that is not listed as a supplier within the Exhibitor Manual, please note that they are not an official supplier of this event. In the event that you receive such communications, we would suggest that you do not progress the conversation any further and that you contact us immediately to inform us of the approach.

I've fallen victim to a fraud. What do I do?

If you fall victim to a fraud, we strongly advise you to halt any communication with the scammer in question. If you continue the conversation, you are supplying the scammer with more routes to access you and pursue payment.

We would also advise that you:

1. Report it to your local trading standards
2. Do not pay anything
3. Do not acknowledge any communications regarding legal action
4. If you have made a payment, complain to the receiving bank that their client is obtaining money by deception

If you have any concerns about the legitimacy of suppliers who get in touch with you, please contact us anytime.