NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — Whispering Oaks Vineyard recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. The family-owned winery outside Sunbury holds events throughout the year, and employees are preparing for an upcoming craft fair.
But recently, someone threw a wrench into those plans. Co-owners Tracey Bonney and Jacki Cunningham got a call from a woman who thought she signed up to be a vendor at the event.
"Had been in contact with somebody they thought was Whispering Oaks Vineyard collecting PayPal payments for them to be a vendor at this craft event," Bonney said.
"That was a huge red flag right there for us because we don't do PayPal," added Cunningham.
Bonney and Cunningham say they only sign up vendors directly and that person is not affiliated with the winery and is scamming people out of money.
"It's just frustrating. it creates a lot of headaches behind the scenes that people don't even realize," Cunningham said.
The winery put an alert on its Facebook page to warn customers about the scam.
"We don't want there to be any confusion or anybody getting scammed out of their money or hesitant to work with us," Bonney said.
"We treat our customers like family. We do. Once they come to Whispering Oaks they're like family to us," Cunningham added.
The winery is collecting information to take to state police. If you believe you've been affected by the scam, you are asked to contact the winery at 1-844-968-9463 (1-844-WOV-WINE) extension #4 or send an email to info@whisperingoaksvineyardpa.com