The ONLY authentic Writer Beware email address is beware@sfwa.org.
“Writer Beware” emails from any other addresses are fake.
A bit over a year ago, a scammer (I never was able to determine which one, but it’s highly likely it was someone on this list) sent out a large number of emails under my name, using a fake address (writerbewaree@gmail.com), offering to provide “guidance” to authors to protect them against scams and help them “connect with well-known traditional publishing houses”.
The aim, it turned out, wasn’t to rip anyone off, but to troll me. Since trolling isn’t any fun unless the trollee knows about it, the scammer also sent the emails directly to me (twice), with the subject line “Writer Beware, the Watchdog and Dog Victoria Strauss” (hence the title of my post about the episode, which also used the graphic above). Maybe because I didn’t respond, or maybe because I mocked them publicly, the troller never dogged me again and I never got any other reports of those particular fake Writer Beware emails.
Unfortunately, there’s now another Writer Beware/Victoria Strauss impersonation attempt. And this one seems designed not just to troll, but to defraud.
Before I get into that, though…a few facts about Writer Beware.
- Writer Beware is not a business. It’s an advocacy group sponsored by a nonprofit and run by volunteers.
- We do not charge fees–of any kind–or sell services–of any kind. We do not accept money of any kind, not even donations.
- We accept and respond to questions and complaints, but we don’t reach out to scammed authors directly unless requested.
- We gather information and provide warnings and advice, but we don’t mediate disputes or assist in recovering funds.
- We are not lawyers, and readily disclose this fact.
The impersonator’s initial approach is below. Note the fake email address (writerbeware@usa.com) and the subject line, which references a real, common, and extremely rapacious type of scam that I recently created an entire section of this blog to highlight: impersonation fraud.
![From: Writer Beware <writerbeware@usa.com>
Subject: Proposal for Legal Assistance Regarding Columbia Pictures/HBO Impersonation Fraud
Date: July 19, 2024 at 1:46:44 PM MDT
To: [redacted]
Dear [redacted]
We hope this letter finds you well. We are writing to express our concern regarding the recent events involving individuals falsely claiming affiliation with Columbia Pictures/HBO and the financial implications you have faced as a result.
At Writer Beware, we specialize in protecting authors and creators from literary fraud and scams. We understand the distressing impact that fraudulent representations can have, particularly when they involve major entertainment entities like Columbia Pictures and HBO.
Upon learning about your unfortunate experience, we would like to extend our assistance to help identify and pursue legal action against those responsible for deceiving you. Our agency is equipped with resources and expertise in investigating such matters and can collaborate with legal experts to initiate the appropriate legal proceedings.
Our proposed course of action includes:
Conducting a thorough investigation to identify the individuals involved in the fraudulent activity.
Formulating a comprehensive legal strategy to pursue litigation against these individuals.
Seeking restitution to recover the financial losses you incurred as a result of their actions.
We understand the significance of reclaiming the funds you have invested and restoring your confidence in navigating the entertainment industry. Please rest assured that we are committed to advocating for your rights and ensuring that justice is served.
To proceed with our assistance, we kindly request a meeting at your earliest convenience to discuss the details of your case and to outline the steps involved in our collaborative effort.
Thank you for considering our proposal. We look forward to the opportunity to assist you and to alleviate the challenges posed by this unfortunate situation.
Sincerely,
Victoria Strauss](https://writerbeware.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Victoria-impersonation-usa.com-1-1.png)
The writer who received this email had indeed lost money to a Columbia Pictures impersonator, who’d contacted them with a (fake) offer to make a movie of their book, and referred them to a different production company (in reality, the scammer doing the impersonation) to purchase a “cinematic trailer” that was supposedly a required part of the process*. The trailer was never delivered.
Having already been ripped off, the writer was cautious of Fake Victoria’s approach, not least because they hadn’t made their experience public, and couldn’t figure out how Fake Victoria knew they’d been defrauded. Fake Victoria was happy to explain.
![Writer Beware sent this email on Aug. 15/24. (writerbeware@usa.com)
Proposal for Legal Assistance Regarding Columbia Pictures/HBO Impersonation Fraud
Dear [redacted]
Good day, [redacted]
Thank you for your email and for sharing your concerns with us. We understand the distress and uncertainty that comes with dealing with deceptive businesses and individuals, and we want to assure you that we are here to help.
Regarding how we learned of your situation, we have a dedicated team that monitors and tracks fraud activities, including those targeting authors like yourself. We were able to determine that you are one of the individuals who has been affected by these scams.
We understand your concern about Payback Finance and recommend exercising caution with any organization you consider. If you have doubts, it’s wise to consult with trusted professionals or agencies.
Additionally, we would like to offer our services to help locate the scammers and work towards recovering your funds. If you’re interested in hiring us to assist with this process, please let us know, and we can discuss the next steps.
We are also open to addressing issues with AuthorPro or any other entities involved in scamming authors. Your report about AuthorPro being problematic is valuable information, and we are prepared to take appropriate actions to assist you and other affected individuals.
Please feel free to reach out with any additional information or questions you might have. We are here to support you through this process.
Best regards,
Victoria Strauss | CEO of Writer Beware
https://writerbeware.blog/](https://writerbeware.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Victoria-impersonation-usa.com-5.png)
That Victoria Strauss–so kind, so supportive! Note, though, the vagueness of Fake Victoria’s “dedicated team” claim, which doesn’t actually answer the writer’s question (very scammer-typical). Also, we’re two emails in at this point and so far Fake Victoria hasn’t mentioned money. That’s another, extremely strategic, scam tactic: spend a little time getting the writer invested in the process before lowering the financial boom.
The writer hesitated a bit longer, but ultimately chose to proceed. It was time for Fake Victoria to get real (my emphasis).
![Writer Beware sent this email on Aug. 21/24.
Proposal for Legal Assistance Regarding Columbia Pictures/HBO Impersonation Fraud
Dear [redacted]
[redacted],
Thank you for your message. To proceed effectively, please provide us with any documents or correspondence you have received from them, as well as their contact information. This will enable our team to trace the locations of the individuals involved.
We also want to inform you that there is a fee of $1,000 for our services. This fee covers the comprehensive research and tracking efforts required to locate and verify the individuals. Rest assured, once we have the necessary information, it will take us approximately one week to complete the tracking process. This timeline will allow you to take legal action and work towards recovering your funds.
Furthermore, we will assist you in filing a formal complaint against these individuals, working in coordination with other affected parties who have also been scammed. This collaborative approach will strengthen your case and increase the likelihood of a successful resolution.
Please let us know if you have any questions or need further assistance. We look forward to your response.
-Victoria Strauss](https://writerbeware.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Victoria-impersonation-usa.com-6.png)
Wait–a $1,000 fee? Not only had there been no mention of money at the outset, but paying a large fee to chase money already lost didn’t seem like the wisest idea. Once again the writer hesitated, but Fake Victoria hastened to reassure: not only would the $1,000 buy lots of assistance, it was absolutely the only payment the writer would have to make. “[Y]ou will not incur any additional costs beyond the initial $1,000 fee.” Fake Victoria wrote. “We are dedicated to recovering your funds and will handle all legal matters on your behalf.”
Not yet quite convinced, the writer took a couple of days to consider (receiving each day an urgent email to “follow up on the pending payment”, since Fake Victoria and her team needed to paid AS SOON AS POSSIBLE or the opportunity for redress would slip away). In the end, the writer decided to take the plunge, and sent the money.
A week later, Fake Victoria reached out with an update. Lots of stuff being done! Very costly, though. Could the writer possibly “invest” in this effort by “contributing” an amount slightly higher than the one they’d already paid?
![Writer Beware sent this email on Sept. 12/24.
Proposal for Legal Assistance Regarding Columbia Pictures/HBO Impersonation Fraud
Dear [redacted]
Dear [redacted]
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to update you on the actions we are taking to address the scam involving both Innocentrix(Columbia Pictures) and Author Pro, and to assist you in pursuing justice.
We are committed to gathering solid evidence and taking effective steps against those responsible. Here is an outline of the measures we are undertaking:
Reporting to Authorities:
We will file formal reports with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). These agencies will aid in the investigation.
We will also file a complaint with your state’s Attorney General’s office for additional support.
Consulting with Legal Professionals:
We will engage legal experts who specialize in fraud and international cases to explore all available legal options, including potential lawsuits.
Engaging Philippine Authorities:
We will inform the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) of the situation and seek their assistance.
Financial Institutions:
We will work with your bank and payment processors to report the fraudulent transactions and attempt to recover any lost funds.
Engaging a Cybersecurity Agency:
To strengthen our case, we will engage a cybersecurity agency to monitor live CCTV footage from the company involved. This will provide real-time evidence of the fraudulent activities. The total cost for this engagement is approximately $50,000.
Given the significant costs involved, we would like to ask if you could possibly contribute $1,500 towards these expenses. Your investment would be greatly appreciated and would help cover a portion of the costs, ensuring we can secure the necessary evidence to support our case effectively.
We are committed to resolving this matter as soon as possible and will keep you updated on the progress and any significant developments. Please let us know if you are able to support this effort or if you have any questions or need further assistance.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. We are dedicated to assisting you through this process and appreciate any support you can provide.
Sincerely,
Victoria Strauss
Co-founder of Writer Beware](https://writerbeware.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Victoria-impersonation-usa.com-7.png)
This is typical of the boiling-the-frog approach many scammers take. The first money ask is followed by some real or apparent delivered benefits that prompt a second money ask–followed, if the target bites a second time, by yet another demand for some essential fee that must be paid or service that must be bought…and so it goes, until the writer starts to balk or the scammer decides they’re tapped out, at which point the scammer ghosts.
In this case, the writer avoided being fully poached. They simply didn’t have the extra cash, and told Fake Victoria so. That was the last they heard from her. Since they didn’t contact me about the scam until nearly two months later, I’m guessing that they held out hope for a while that Fake Victoria would deliver, but eventually became suspicious enough of her silence to google Writer Beware. At which point they realized they’d been hoodwinked.
It’s often difficult to trace scams back to their source, since so many of them use intricate networks of business names and, if they’re based overseas, operate in their home countries under yet other business names. For me, though, there’s a clue in Fake Victoria’s final email: the mention of Innocentrix.
Innocentrix is one of the largest and most predatory (which is saying something) of the Philippines-based publishing/marketing/fake literary agency/imposter scams. Doing business as Page Turner Press and Media, among many other names, it specializes in impersonations, particularly of film production companies (more about that here). These days, especially with overseas scammers’ wide adoption of ChatGPT, such impersonations can be quite polished, and even if the potential victim doesn’t fall for it, there’s no way for them to identify which fraudster is pretending to be Columbia Pictures or whatever.
So it’s unlikely that the writer targeted by Fake Victoria ever knew that Innocentrix, via its network of fake names, was the scammer that charged them $3,000 for the “cinematic trailer” that was never made. If so, they wouldn’t have mentioned Innocentrix to Fake Victoria, and Innocentrix’s name wouldn’t have appeared in any of the documentation they shared with Fake Victoria. So how could Fake Victoria identify Innocentrix? Well…she could, if she was Innocentrix.
This is yet another common scam tactic: rip writers off under one company name, then use a different name to return for another bite at the apple. Of course, the big scammers all know each others’ tactics; a lot of the newer ones worked for the older ones but then split off to form their own enterprises. So it could be another scammer familiar with Innocentrix’s nest of names. But I like my theory better.
Why pick me/Writer Beware to impersonate, though? Not to pat my own back, but my reporting has made me internet famous in the Philippine publishing scam world, and they do not like me one little bit. (At some point I’m going to do a post with all the crazy things they say about me; see, for example, the “Bad blogs” section of this training manual for Bridgebooks, another of the bigger Philippines-based scams.) Why wouldn’t a scammer decide to use my/Writer Beware’s good reputation to steal money from unsuspecting authors and give me the middle finger while they’re at it? Honestly I’m only surprised it hasn’t happened more often.
To date, the complaint I’ve unpacked here is the only one I’ve received about this particular Writer Beware impersonation effort. So I don’t know if it was a one-off or if a lot of solicitations are going out. Regardless: the only authentic email address for Writer Beware is beware@sfwa.org. If you get an email purporting to be from me or any other members of the WB team from any other address, it’s a fake.
* For why you never need a “cinematic trailer” as part of the book-to-film process, see this post from guest blogger Jeanne Veillette Bowerman: How a Book Really Becomes a Movie
Thank you for this information. I don’t know if my book will ever see the light of day but know what/who to avoid at least is comforting.
I tell myself that the fact that I have no money to spend on things like this (I keep my publishing royalties completely separate from my publishing money) protects me. I can’t afford to pay for things like this.
That and a healthy distrust of things coming out of the blue.
But thank you for all the help and warnings you’ve given us.
It boils down to the scammers being just as good at creating fiction as the writers they scam. The difference is that the scammers have no ethics.
I work solely for incarcerated men of color who are authors. I publish their work only on KDP because there is no cost. Over the past year I’ve been approached by three men who have been scammed. One for 3,000. I didn’t know about these scams until I was contacted by “Durance Publishing” who was interested in an anthology book titled, “The Shaping of a Convict” asking for $8,000. I literally laughed at them when they contacted me. Sure. Incarcerated authors have that kind of money. They would call me and right after hanging up I would immediately call back. Never got an answer or any replies. Then I started getting calls from another “publishing” company saying they would work for half that cost. It was quite the fiasco.
Unfortunately, convincing those who have been scammed that they have been has been difficult, and they continue getting scammed. I have to cut them loose because I don’t have the time to convince them of the obvious. However, this resource has been amazing in preventing many from getting scammed because I’m now getting asked in advance if a particular company is a scam. I’ve learned very valuable information from Writer Beware and printed off a packet I sent to the prison so more men who are easy targets can avoid getting scammed. But it blows my mind how deep this goes. I tell all the men that it’s so bad they should consider everything a scam until
proven otherwise. Those who have been released after 20+ years inside are falling for scams out here that come in a variety of forms aside from publishing. Thank you for your hard work.
I hope you’re making sure not to work for people who have harmed others.
Quatie, thanks for your comment and for the work you’re doing.
So difficult to trust anyone in a industry, riddled with rot it seems, you seem to be on of the few we can trust to be honest, that’s why your being targeted.
The scammers really aren’t part of the publishing industry–they occupy their own shadow-world, where the only point of connection betweeen them and the real world of publishing is the writers they entrap. There are lots and lots of legit publishers, literary agents, and others–they just will never be the ones contacting you out of the blue, or advertising online, or purchasing sponsored links on Google.
I know it can seem like a treacherous forest filled with monsters, but with some knowledge and context, you should be able to avoid most scams. This blog is one source of that, with its lists and its exposing of specific schemes and scams; the other is the Writer Beware website, which offers a full toolkit not just for for recognizing and avoiding scams, but for researching and finding legitimate people.
Thank you for your efforts to educate us naive writers of the scammers preying on us. I’m beginning to believe that there must be half the world that makes a living scamming others. It might qualify as a top 10 industry! Keep up the good work!
I can’t believe they would try to base a scam on scam-exposer! What next? So far, I have not heard of scammers trying to base a scam on religion. But that’s probably next. But take their efforts as a compliment. You’ve got to be famous to be scammed, I guess. Thanks for all your help.
Ted, sadly I assure you there’s a good deal of that too. Pretending to collect money for churches and monasteries, for example, is a time-dishonoured tradition. Or posing as priests for an expensive requiem service (disgustingly, this kind of scam at least was, if not still is, done in hospitals and morgues). A few years ago in our city, some scammers actually went to the trouble of establishing a chapel with fake relics of St. Nicholas.
Thank you Victoria for all you do for writers, and for me a 91 year old who has written a new book of stories from my Naval Academy Class of 1857. Many of these stories would make a great movie, and I could be vulnerable for a scam. You have helped me more than you could ever know. We have an incredible book, designated by the History Department as a prime source for research, and though I’m asked to do lots of speaking engagements with book royalties going to the Alumni Association, selling books is hard, and it is so easy for writers to buy into any scam promising the world. Thanks again, stay in touch. We did a podcast for the local Chamber and our Veterans Day talk at a luncheon on St Simon’s Island, Ga was taped and we should get a copy of it next week. Would you want to see it? Jim Paulk
Gosh, I loathe such people. Trying to rob the victim by claiming to help the victim recover the money the bastards already scammed out of her: good bloody gods.
Hooboy. I just today was approached by a “Hilbrand Literary Agency” about my children’s book published with AuthorHouse in early 2023. They’re not on your comprehensive scammer listing, and they surprisingly emphasize upfront that they work on “commission only.” You’ve heard of them?
Kurt Wehrmeister
Santa Rosa, CA
Not speaking for Writer Beware:
The website says claims a copyright date of 2014 at the bottom. But the domain name was only purchased eight days ago (on November 7th) — and, inconsistent with US legal requirements, offers no way to opt out of cookies (etc.), there’s only an “accept” button. The purported “affiliate publishers” list seems awfully darned familiar, and includes AuthorHouse — and both Amazon and Barnes & Noble, neither of which a literary agent would blithely call a “publisher” without more specifics. Then there’s the complete lack of physical-location information; the list of almost-useless services from their “dedicated team” (of ChatGPT/competitor queriers, at best); and plenty of other markers of either a scam, or possibly but improbably a well-meaning neophyte who can’t actually provide meaningful service.
You can draw your own conclusions; I’ve drawn mine.
Hi, Kurt,
I haven’t heard of them, but that’s not surprising: a new fake agency name or scam company pops up at least weekly. Based on the fact that they contacted you (very much not typical of reputable agencies) and what I see at their website, they are yet another scam. All the markers are there: claims of expertise that can’t be verified because there’s no info about the agents, a bunch of services on offer (such as query letter writing) that a real agency would not provide, no list of published books or clients (a real agency would provide one or both), and as Curmudgeon points out, the less-than-two-week-old domain registration, which completely contradicts the claim to have been in business for 10 years.
I’m going to be adding them to my list, once I’ve done a bit of checking to confirm that they really are based in the Philippines.
Wow, I’m so sorry you had to experience that. Thank you for sharing all of this with us. It’s good to know what is happening in your world, too. These fakers really aren’t so smart, are they? It’s sad too that we have to deal with people like that.
Oh, my gosh. They are legion! Thank you so much for following up on this, Victoria. What would we do without you?
It just goes to prove that no one is immune to scammers. It’s “gross” that someone had decided to do this to you… of all people… but there will always be the “swarmy players” who want to take advantage of good people.
You keep doing you, Victoria. And you’ll continue to have my support.
This email came to me from donotreply@wordpress.com, not sfwa.org.
Which email do you mean? If you’re a subscriber to my blog posts, the sender address should be beware@sfwa.org.
So sorry you are being attacked in this way – good that you alerted everyone on your list, and for those who are fooled into paying the fakers, guess they’ll need to read more of your articles!
On the plus side, the number of people warning writers on online writers’ forums about scams has greatly increased over the past three years. Yet on these forums there are still people who have asked for advice after being scammed.