I love to write and, like most writers, have found it challenging to get the word out. It is rather easy to write something and “publish” it. I do it all the time. I have my own website, a Substack account and even a trial story posted on Kindle. Gosh – I am “publishing.”

Jacket Cover for The Hunt — My Little Kindle Experiment

But there is a lot more to publishing. There are copyright protections, trademarks, self-publishing options, getting an agent, screen writing options and appearances. There are a lot of moving parts out there. And each of them is an opportunity for a scam.

It was back in the late 90’s when I first encountered this sort of scam. The Internet was just beginning to pick up speed. This high school girl I knew had shared that she had just sent in a song to an agent in Florida. She was praying and hoping it would be accepted. She eventually spilled out that it included a $300 check. I grieved for her.

I have discovered that the only way artists are ever going to get anywhere is to be physically present. An actress living in New York City has a far better chance making it in theater than living in Peoria, Illinois. A talented guitarist will see more doors open in Nashville than Fayette, Missouri. How far would Nanci Griffith have traveled in her career if she had stayed in her home town listening for the elevator bell to go off at the five and dime?

Not everybody can or wish to live in New York City. People have a life, have families and children, have steady-paying careers. Yet they can also be talented artists. Along comes the Internet and all that talent, sitting in remote towns and villages, can suddenly be discovered. But by whom?

My Experiment

It is sad that in this day of communication options beyond measure, we can’t trust anyone with an e-mail address. People are paranoid to answer unidentified phone numbers or messages. I have practically made a career writing on the subject.

Me gazing at trout. — Look for me on Facebook

But … just once … I put one out there. It sits on my Facebook page. Interested in my work? Send me a note. It is a dedicated account, set up to answer e-mails from folks that either discover this address on the Facebook page or, as will invariably happen, gather it from “the wild.”

It took a while, but the messages started rolling in. It is now averaging about one per day or two. I humored one of the solicitations before an exchange of two or three messages uncovered the scam. Come to our “book club” and share what you have written. Gee – that would be nice. It is in Indiana and I am in Missouri. Must be a Zoom call. Well, the final note was a request to send in $100 for the opportunity.

The Sender

I typically lead off on e-mail scams by analyzing the messages. But what is funny about this experiment is that all but one of the messages has come from G-Mail accounts. We are talking about 99%! Gee – what are the odds that a “professional” soliciting your business has only a G-Mail account? No one owns their own domains?

The advantage of a G-Mail account is that it guards anonymity. If I receive a message from someone in Facebook, I can at least check their profile and get something from it. Legitimate businesses (and publishing specialists and agents) usually have something out there such as a website, a LinkedIn account or a Facebook page. But a person acting in G-Mail can let the message do its work, beguiling the reader that this is a new opportunity.

Another advantage of using G-Mail is the message is certified. Most people do not realize it, but e-mails these days have a trace-back standard.¹ Each mail server adds a digital signature verifying that the mail sender is for real. In the early days of e-mail, anybody could set up a server and send out bulk messages. I even got one through a law office in Memphis. Their mail server had been hijacked by scammers. Digital certificates started solving that problem by establishing authentication standards between mail servers. Google, obviously, is a certified mail service. As a result, it is easy for G-Mail originated messages to avoid being spam filtered.

Another aspect of G-Mail is the fluid nature of their account names. They just come and go, all with that peculiar three or four digit addition to the name. The same is often done with scammers that use domain names. But the difference is that these can be checked through International domain registration services. I have yet to see a similar capability from Google.

The Message

The messages are actually quite creative. But the one thing they all have in common is that they utilize general references. Nothing specific. They refer to “your book”, or “your storytelling technique.” Hmm. Which book? What exactly is it I write that gets your attention?

The second thing is the angle. Some are more sophisticated than others. The book club scam is rather basic. But I have seen some real doozies. Some people work for companies located in a field, but at least they posted an address or had a website. Another company resides in a postal services branch. The coup de grace, however, goes to those poor devils that take considerable time to impersonate real, successful authors. They have all the right links to Amazon and even have their photos and personal websites included. Yet, strangely, this incredibly successful author has to reach me using a G-Mail address of louislamour2383@gmail.com?

What’s Next?

It is obvious that the solicitors are using general terms. With probably one or two exceptions, everyone was playing on my yearning for publicity or a basic business need (such as self-publishing). My response?

I can play this game both ways. I created a questionnaire which plays on their general statements. Like my “books?” (I have only two). Which one? Like an article I wrote? Which one? Tell me more about yourself: city you are located, website, LinkedIn or Facebook account. What services are you proposing?

Next, I set up the e-mail account to be in “vacation mode.” I inserted a link to this questionnaire as part of the automatic response. They are instructed to complete the questionnaire and send it to another designated e-mail address.

Will this work? Well, it has given me some rather humorous reactions as these folks are scrambling to get my attention by sending me repeated inquiries, only to get the same auto-response. Alas, that second e-mail address? I have yet to receive anything.

In my book – mission accomplished. If they are really interested in me, they would recognize that a lot of my writing covers people just like them. Solicitors need to earn my trust. If they can’t answer basic questions about themselves and their interest in my work, they are toast.

Solutions

Email Graphic. Tips on avoiding spam and scam — Tips for Setting Up Designated Email Accounts

Google should add some history to a person’s e-mail address. It would be nice to know the age of the account. Another feature may be a general location description, much as X does with accounts.
Facebook needs to insert a tag into the Subject line of e-mails launched from their pages. I can then use the tag to filter out messages that do not come from my Facebook page.
Recognize that the oldest scams predate the Internet. Always be aware of messages that potentially cost you money. They will play on your emotions.
Be aware of phishing scams. The two authors that were impersonated were classic phishing scams, using an array of real, authentic links and actual photos to give the impression that this was the real author. You only have to stop and think and ask if the reply-to e-mail is the same person. Best solution is to learn all you can about the author. In my case, both of the scammers were using authors with their own websites and they had independent ways to contact them (through their agents, of course). Any author who can register a domain, pop together a website, and obtain an agent will most likely use an e-mail address with their domain name.
Use designated e-mail addresses for high-risk exposure situations. This address was only used on my Facebook page. Recommend you look at “E-Mail: A Method to the Madness” for ideas on how to organize e-mail addresses to minimize risk.