I am writing this as a warning to my fellow indie writers. Beware of scammers, and be vigilant! Twice in recent weeks, scammers have targeted me with regard to my novel The Roving Reporter. Both scams originated in the United Kingdom. A woman claiming to be from the British travel company Standfords called me from London. The "Staffords" caller expressed an interest in my book because the main character, a foreign reporter, travels to many different countries. The caller asked for my email address and said she would phone back. When she never phoned back or emailed me, I decided to email Stanfords. They did not recognize my name or my book, but they informed me that they were aware of scams using their company name. They said they were investigating.
The second scam involved an email from someone purporting to be editor Rhordi Mogford of Bloomsbury Publishing in London. The email did not match Mr. Mogford's Bloomsbury email address. On Mogford's Linkedin site, the following message has been posted:
Fraudulent emails from bad actors purporting to be me seem to be in circulation at the moment. If you think you have received a communication from me, please check the email address it comes from as a dodgy domain will reveal it to be fraudulent. Sadly, this appears to be on the rise in the publishing sector so please be vigilant if someone reaches out to you unexpectedly.
These scammers distract hard-working writers who are just trying to promote their books and build a readership. Our time is precious and we can't afford to waste it on scammers. I hope they are caught and forced to accept responsibility for their despicable behaviour. I also hope I have provided some valuable information for my fellow indie writers. Fortunately, I have not lost any money to book scammers, nor have I given them any private information.
- Joanne
