Scary World: Dealing With Scammers

After spending a couple of hours clearing out the spam email from my 3 email accounts and checking a couple of dozen emails for credibility without clicking on them, I’m frustrated.

The AI world has enabled the internet crooks to increase their output of scams, spoofs, and frauds. 

Everyone gets these emails, but for authors, it’s even more frustrating. We get huge amounts of emails praising one of our books and bemoaning that the book hasn’t a bigger presence on social media and/or number of reviews.

They tell you that they are in charge of a coffee/booze/cocktail/senior citizens book club or online community of reviewers that can shoot you to the top of the bestseller list! All they ask you to do is email them for more information. 

The emails are always gmail addresses despite the name of the so-called readers’ group they offer in the email. Guess they never heard of Facebook groups.

Never, ever email them in return. It’s risky just seeing the email in preview. Don’t dare open it. 

In fact, don’t click on anything in the email, not even a “blank” spot because there may be a hidden link, colored white that won’t show up. It’s a fricking minefield.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE

These are the letters supposedly from literary agents, publishing house editors, and movie production companies. They want to take your book to the big time. I’ve checked out the names and the companies these scam artists supposedly represent. The names, photographs, and companies are real, but the fraudster using them is not. The contact email will always seem like the legit email, but there will be some character in the email that makes it wrong.

Then there are the alleged lawyers who threaten to sue you because you used music or something in a video that the copyright owner wants you to pay up. These are frauds too.

HOW DO I KNOW?

With any letter about copyright, I know because I keep a record of the rights owner of any photo or music I’ve used.

With the letters supposedly from publishing representives and lawyers, never click them. View the information you can see without clicking on the email then go to a Search Engine and query, “Is email regarding copyright from XYZ Law Firm legitimate?”

With everyone I’ve received, I’ve found dozens of SERPs that show they’re scams.

You can check the publishing house professionals’ names and companies this way also, by querying whether they are legitimate and/or whether their name and image is being used in email scams.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

It’s a scary world out there for the unwary so be aware. Question anything that is designed to excite you or scare you.

Joan Reeves aka SlingWords: The Word Slinging Adventures of Joan Reeves

Source: https://slingwords.blogspot.com/2026/01/scary-world-dealing-with-scammers.html