A Higher Tier of Scams:

By Thio Isobel Moss

This week, I had the rare privilege of receiving an email from a spammer. It’s illegitimacy was not immediately obvious. My correspondent did not gush over how good Blind Spot was, but simply cited two appealing attributes before inquiring if I was represented by an agent. They were interested in discussing future projects.

This individual claimed to be an editor in one of the Big Five publishing houses, included a professional photo with their signature, along with an address and phone number.

 A quick search was enough to determine that there was an editor by that name, who matched that photo, and worked for the specified publishing house. The language in the email aligned well with the editor’s writing style. Moreover, Blind Spot was a plausible match for this editor’s specific book interests.

Two things, however, gave the scam away: the email address and the question, “Was I working on any longer form projects?” Not only was the wording odd, but Blind Spot is 549 pages! What publisher would request a longer book from a new, yet unproven author?

I reported the email and forwarded it to the real editor, feeling that they ought to know about it if the scam hadn’t already been reported. I received a very gracious response, and they hadn’t been aware that their name was being used this way.

There was also a gentleman on Instagram who contacted me recently. I can’t say for certain that he was a scammer, but the whole situation was strange. He had a question about my cover, which he had first seen in a promo I ran a while back, and asked if he could DM me. I said he could and thanked him for asking first.

He replied that he had followed me (he had not), and once I accepted him, then he could DM me. I explained that my account is not private; he could DM me, and it would show up under requests. I have not heard from him since.

There is a lot of emotion wrapped up in a creative project, and that makes creatives prime targets for scammers. They are getting smarter and more convincing every day. I don’t want to be cynical, but if something seems too good to be true, it likely is. My best advice: verify credentials before acting; keep yourself and your work safe!