Fun with Scammers!

[A. E. Lowan]

So, we get one or two messages from scammers a day, and I usually just wield the Ban Hammer and keep on with my day. But today I got wrapped up in a couple of things and forgot to lay down the ban. And then this happened. Hoping it comes up in something like order. I suck at this part. lol

 

[Mad Swede]

Oh dear. And the scammer doesn't even have their own (fake) profile right. Comes from Chattanooga and lives in one of the most exclusive parts of London? Even I know London better than that...

 

[ThinkerX]

Facebook is infested with these scammers. One either hacked or impersonated a best-selling author. like this one, though, that scammer had a messed-up profile. Many FB book sites ban promoters altogether, sometimes extending that ban to include anything 'fiver.'


For that matter, most of the legitimate promo sites yield so-so sales at best. I find that the cheapest genre-specific ones - those in the ten-dollar range - produce results as good as or better than the ones demanding five or six times that.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Oh dear. And the scammer doesn't even have their own (fake) profile right. Comes from Chattanooga and lives in one of the most exclusive parts of London? Even I know London better than that...

Yeah, it's so very bad. And the scary part is how many writers will push aside all of the red flags and go charging in, anyway, just for any scrap of validation.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I just keep getting threatened with Facebook banishment. So boring.

 

[Jackarandajam]

ROWDY. You could recommend a few books on sales strategy maybe? How To Talk To Anybody and The Greatest Salesman In The World come to mind.
I'm impressed by your professionalism, I would have suggested 3pm behind the swingset

 

[A. E. Lowan]

ROWDY. You could recommend a few books on sales strategy maybe? How To Talk To Anybody and The Greatest Salesman In The World come to mind.
I'm impressed by your professionalism, I would have suggested 3pm behind the swingset

Oh, oh I am so much worse than that. One FB group where I'm visible and contribute a lot is Fans of Urban Fantasy. Awesome sexy group, just a fantastic place to chat and find your tribe. Pretty sure our lady scammer found me through one of these groups. So, I'm pretty sure she's going to see where I started a thread on Fun With Scammers! and posted the screenshots. Not her real name, and I'm certain not in any way an actual professional page, but it does cause a bit of shock to find someone's posted about you to 43k+ other people, a ton of them in publishing in some way, and they all have feelings about this. But, I don't play.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

And then I posted all of it to the biggest group I'm in, 20Booksto50K, which has 77.5k members, all in publishing. Hope that's not the name she wants to do business with. When I say that publishing is an industry where reputation is everything because everyone knows everyone else and their business, this is what I'm talking about. Get a rep for shooting off garbage like this person did, and it's probably time to change industries.

 

[Prince of Spires]

I just keep getting threatened with Facebook banishment. So boring.

Same for me. They never try to sell me anything

 

[Zombified Spider]

why am I laughing?

 

[A. E. Lowan]

why am I laughing?

Because we on Scribes are funny as hell. Can confirm.

Also, and I say this a whole lot, Comedy is just Tragedy... with timing.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

And~ they're still out there, hunting the Comments. Did a wee bit of fishing and caught this. There is still a mistake, but they're get super smooth.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Should have an AI bot that replies to their AI bots and see what happens.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Should have an AI bot that replies to their AI bots and see what happens.

That's diabolical. I love it.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Right until they produce the next Star Wars and I don't get any money for it. AI bastards anyhow.

 

[pmmg]

Funny this one came to life again. I got the weirdest one in a while for me.

Was a text to my phone, called me by name and said it was from someone I knew on a different site a long time ago. Like...that was a lot of information mining cause I dont really share any of those. When I saw Natalie's name on it, i was like? What? How does Natalie know where to contact me...and then I was like...oh, a scammer. Natalie would never contact me on purpose. She doesn't like who I might vote for.

But good and alarming homework from them I guess.

 

[pmmg]

Oh, Jenna Moreci,

She's one of those Booktube authors who shows up a lot on my Youtube.

I bought her book, and...DNF... I just wanted to see, but I was not really into the vibe of the story.

I am sure that email was legit

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Oh, Jenna Moreci,

She's one of those Booktube authors who shows up a lot on my Youtube.

I bought her book, and...DNF... I just wanted to see, but I was not really into the vibe of the story.

I am sure that email was legit

I've been following a small clutch of what I call 'Lang and Lit Virgins,' - Moreci is not one of them - because that crowd is up and coming in our demographics, and I want to know what they think about things. Also, our younger writing partner is ~technically one, and I want to know that group just as a big sister. Apparently, a few have issues with spice and the word "lusty." I am, indeed, a stranger in a strange land. lol

To be fair, when I was 17 I yelled at David Morrell. We'd gone to a workshop at Iowa and being a bunch of arrogant little snots my entire class - creative writing majors all - turned on him like a pack of raptors the instant he took issue with one of Jenny's stories.

 

[Prince of Spires]

I feel invisible. No scammer wants to talk to me...

Well okay, I get a couple of emails every now and then. But nothing this fancy or elaborate. Mine just quote my blurb back at me and pretend that means they've read and liked it. I want fancy scammers too, who pretend they like my book and put in some research. You know, have them put in some work and effort. It would make me feel better for ignoring them.

I have watched some of Jenna Moreci's content. It didn't really strike the right note for me. I remember it feeling a bit to generic and aimed at romance. I've only seen reviews of her books, haven't read them. But those reviews were pretty harsh, so I also felt no need to read them.

Demesnedenoir not sure if there's that much money left in Star Wars at the moment. Disney seems to not understand what to do with it somehow. Which is surprising, since it's one of those IP's where even getting it vaguely right (like with the Mandalorian) would be good enough to rake in money.

As a side note A. E. Lowan be aware that you just posted your email address visible for all to see in those screenshots. Though I don't think most scammers would search for text inside images, it is something to be aware of.

 

[pmmg]

Its just become easier to fake interest cause of AI, the actual scammer is still doing the same 'no' amount of work.