Have you received an e-mail from a publisher, writers’ organization, or literary figure that contains a suspicious request, often for money or financial information, or promises something that seems too good to be true? You are right to be skeptical! Scams targeting writers remain a threat, and Poets & Writers urges the literary community to be vigilant to avoid falling prey to scammers and frauds. These schemes are nothing new, unfortunately, and Poets & Writers Magazine has alerted writers to their constantly changing and evolving tactics:
“Phishing Schemes Target Writers” (January/February 2022)
“Scams Bait Self-Published Authors” (July/August 2023)
A few tips: Scrutinize any e-mail containing an invitation, request, or offer for misspellings or vague language. Check the sender’s e-mail address for a suspicious domain name. Refrain from responding or acting on an e-mail immediately; research and identify who is contacting you and on behalf of which organization. Rather than clicking on a link embedded in an e-mail, search on your own for a website that confirms the information. And if you’re still unsure if the e-mail you received is legitimate, contact the organization that purportedly sent it to you and ask for more information.
Writer Beware (writerbeware.blog) is a good resource for information about prevalent scams. And once the government shutdown is over, complaints can be filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil antitrust law and consumer protection (reportfraud.ftc.gov).
