ALERT: SCAMMERS IMPERSONATING MAJOR PUBLISHING HOUSES – Written By Victoria Strauss

On the ‘Writer’s Beware’ blog I found the article below, written by Victoria Strauss. I think, it really is important we all are aware of the scams and we share the information to help many others keeping their eyes open. Thank you, Victoria.

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware®

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about scammers impersonating reputable literary agents. These are not isolated incidents: I have a growing file of reports and complaints about this growing phenomenon–including from writers who’ve lost large amounts of money.

Now publishers are being impersonated as well. Here are a couple of examples of the kind of thing I’m seeing.

Here’s the pitch one author received from “Michael Smith” of “HarperCollins” (see the email address):

To pass the “1st stage of the acquisition” of their book, and move on to “an exclusive contract,” the author had already been persuaded (by “agent” Arial Brown, who is as fake as this offer) to hand over more than $8,000 for a new website and YouTube video. Now, in order to proceed to the next stage, they must shell out still more cash for “Developmental Editing and Content Editing.” But not to worry–all that spending is in aid of big rewards down the line: