Conference Hotel Phishing Scam

It has come to our attention that past DirectEmployers Annual Meeting & Conference (DEAMcon) attendees have been contacted by an outside “Housing Pirate,” offering discounted hotel room rates through a fraudulent booking link. First and foremost, DirectEmployers has NO affiliation with these organizations and in no way endorses their services.

If you received (or have received) any communications from the following companies, we urge you to mark it as spam and DO NOT click on any links within the email:

• Elite Housing Service (https://elitehousingservice.com); Contact: Amy Garcia
• Events Housing (https://www.events-housing.com); Contact: Rose Larson

The only authorized and valid booking tool for DEAMcon is found on our venue page. Any reservations made with the companies above will not guarantee a room and may be part of a broader phishing scheme to obtain your personal and credit card information.

If you reserved a room through the organizations listed above (or any similar services), we urge you to monitor your credit card for unauthorized charges. Please proceed with making reservations using the only valid reservation tool for the hotel OR by calling the hotel directly, asking to reserve as part of the DEAMcon room block.

What is a Housing Pirate?

Commonly referred to as “housing pirates” or “poachers,” these are companies that reach out to attendees and exhibitors, fraudulently offering discounted rates on hotel rooms, claiming they are affiliated with the conference host.

No DirectEmployers-authorized organization will contact you about DirectEmployers Annual Meeting hotels or housing, outside of those within the internal conference planning group. Unless you have initiated the communication, please do not provide anyone with your personal information, especially your credit card number. If you provide credit card information to one of these companies, your card may be compromised, and you will not have a room reserved upon arriving at the hotel.

Reporting Fraud

If contacted by someone asking to assist you in booking a room at DirectEmployers Annual Meeting & Conference (DEAMcon) or representing themselves as the “Reservation Team” (as seen in the above email), please share the correspondence you have received with the DirectEmployers Meeting Planning Team by forwarding the email to deam@directeployers.org so that we can continue to notify fellow attendees of additional “housing pirates” and affiliated organizations.