Writer, Beware

Hey, friends.

Authors are being targeted daily by nasty spammers (out of Nigeria, I hear). Using AI, they can send a gazillion emails a day, trying to fool those who don’t know. I’ve heard from “Nora Roberts” along with quite a few other famous authors. Well, now it is my turn. They are pretending to be me. (See copy of email below.)

A friend received that email today and forwarded to me. I actually heard from another writer I don’t know a couple of weeks ago, also asking if the Devourers Reading Challenge invitation to him was legit. It is not, and I saw that Christian Fiction Devourers on Goodreads is aware of this spam campaign, but of course there is nothing they can do.

The return gmail address for this spammer is close but not me (robinleee.hatcher at gmail). And they grabbed my signature off of one of my blogs. It is so infuriating.

I share because I want to be sure other writers, especially those just getting started, are aware of these spammers. They are good, and I hate that they are using my name just as they are using the names of so many others. If anyone responds, after a few exchanges, they will be asking for money. DO NOT FALL FOR THESE THINGS.

I throw all of these emails away. There are a number of tells. Get enough of them and you can spot the tells at 100 yards.

Be careful and guard your wallet.

~robin

Click the image to see a larger copy.