DISSSECTING A SCAM: THE LITERARY SCOUT IMPERSONATOR – Written By Victoria Strauss

On the ‘Writer Beware’ blog, I found a new warning from scams. Beware, new authors, and read carefully. These are dangerous. Thank you so much for all your hard work, Victoria!

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Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware®

I’ve written several posts about a fairly new phenomenon in the world of writing scams: scammers that falsely use the names of reputable publishing professionals, including literary agents and publishers, to lure writers into paying large amounts of money for worthless, substandard, and/or never-delivered services.

This time, I’m breaking down a very similar scam that, capitalizing on the pandemic-fueled popularity of Netflix and other streaming services (as well as the eternal writerly dream of having one’s book translated into film), is appropriating the name of Clare Richardson, Senior Scout for film and TV at the New York office of Maria B. Campbell Associates, to hoodwink writers in an unusually complicated–and expensive–scheme.

Here’s “Clare’s” initial approach:

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