Another event professional has fallen victim to a long-running con preying on planners. The fraudster, who previously posed as “Gregory Mount,” has resurfaced under a new name, “Peter Hollenbeck.”
Claiming to work for paint company Glidden, “Hollenbeck” contacted Thomas Sterner, chief event officer at Complete Meeting Production Services, in early October. They two spoke for about a half hour about an office opening in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Sterner, a veteran with 33 years in event production, said there were no immediate red flags. Hollenbeck spoke professionally, used industry jargon and was quite friendly.
“I suspect this person is either currently an event planner or was one,” said Sterner. “He knows the lingo.”
The script is now all too familiar. About 40 employees would gather to celebrate the new office. Hollenbeck said the budget was $40,000.
The first email he received on October 1 was professional and included a signature line with Glidden’s logo, physical address, and what appeared to be an official website.
Although a smaller job than Sterner usually works on, he decided to take it especially since it was local and there may be a chance of securing a role planning the company’s annual meeting.
The Fraudulent “Preferred Vendor”
Like in previous cases, the scam focused on advance payments to supposedly preferred vendors. This time it was Francis Breitfeller of Apex Photography.
“I will send you a bill for the photographer that I will forward funds for,” Hollenbeck wrote on October 8. Shortly after, a $4,200 credit card payment from him appeared to clear. Sterner then attempted to send an ACH (automated clearing house payment) payment of $3,500 to the photographer. He did this from an airport but the session timed out. When he left the airport, he checked and the payment didn’t go through, so he sent another $3,500.
A few days later, he realized his business account was charged $3,500 twice.
Sterner called the photographer to return the duplicate transaction, but someone responding as Breitfeller made several excuses as to why he couldn’t return the second payment.
The Plot Unravels
Three weeks later, Sterner and Hollenbeck scheduled a meeting at the new Scottsdale office where the party would be held. When Sterner arrived Glidden Paints wasn’t listed in the directory and he found no reference of the company at all.
Frustrated, he called Hollenbeck. “His phone was then disconnected. I called the photographer I had talked to and that number was also disconnected,” said Sterner.
He also soon learned the credit card payment he had received for the photographer had been made with a stolen credit card.
“I believe he dragged the con on so the ACH went through and at that point there wasn’t anything I could do about it,” said Sterner.
He has contacted his bank as well as the Scottsdale police department, and filed an official report.
“Paying vendors upfront is not atypical in our industry,” Sterner said. “But I’ve learned never to pay anyone until the event funds have fully cleared.”
Not the First — and Likely Not the Last
Skift Meetings first reported on this scam in July, when Nirjary Desai, founder of KIS Cubed Events, lost nearly $20,000 to the same con, then run by “Gregory Mount.”
Since then, multiple planners have reported near-identical experiences, with some falling for the scam, while others have managed to avoid it.
Fraudulent Glidden domains used in the scam include gliddenusa.com registered on June 16, and gliddenamerica.com, registered on September 11, 2025, in Texas.
Chaitra Gokul-Srinath, chief legal officer for Pittsburgh Paints Company, said the only official website is: https://www.glidden.com.
As the scam evolves, event professionals are urged to verify corporate identities, confirm vendor legitimacy, and be skeptical of new client outreach that involves immediate payments.
