Book Marketing Scammer Impersonates The Washington Post
Naturally, if it’s a day ending in “y,” I’m certain to get hit up by book marketing scammers and hucksters seeking to relieve me of my hard-earned cash.
The other day, for example, I received an email from a scammer impersonating the Washington Post. That’s right, the newspaper.
Here’s a screenshot of the first email I received:
This one was easy to spot. First off, the scammer used a Gmail address — a dead giveaway. Second, the rapidly cobbled image at the top of the email was another dead giveaway. There were more images scattered throughout the email.
“Imagine your book reaching millions of these readers every week for an entire month, backed by our prestige. Past featured authors have seen immediate sales spikes, higher rankings, speaking invitations, and lasting career momentum. This is the huge, credible boost your book has been waiting for, turning visibility into real engagement and turning readers into lifelong fans” (sic).
Oohhhh….
The email continues:
This is more than promotion, it’s a strategic opportunity to give your book the visibility, engagement, and recognition it truly deserves on a global stage. If this aligns with your goals, I’d be happy to share more details and next steps. Looking forward to your response.
‘Warm Regard’
The Washington post Newspaper
And THIS is supposed to get me to open my wallet? I don’t think so.
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Of course, I did NOT respond to this blatant attempt to rob me of my meager earnings, so the scammer followed up on Tuesday with this:
I wanted to remind you that this is a rare opportunity to position your book in front of millions of engaged readers worldwide through The Washington Post — a platform known for credibility, influence, and high-quality audience engagement.
With global visibility, a full month of promotion, and added exposure for your work, this is designed to give your book the attention and recognition it truly deserves.
Opportunities like this don’t come often, and I’d love for you to take advantage of it.
Let me know if you’d like to move forward, I’ll handle everything for you.
Warm Regard’
The Washington post Newspaper
What can I say, except:
I’ve been hit up by all types of scammers pretending to be best-selling authors, publishers, and even college-based NPR radio stations. I see them all the time on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, you name it. And my email bursts at the seams with this slop every single day. After four years of being bombarded daily with these fake pitches, it gets rather old. And boring.
Of course, I didn’t respond. Why should I? What’s the use? I know it’s a scam. The scammer who sent it knows it’s a scam.
The only sensible solution is to mark these emails as spam, block the sender’s address, and delete them. Of course, the scammer will only create a new address to send more fake spam. And those will get tossed in the bit bucket as well.
The bottom line is this: Indie authors are a prime target for a global cabal of hucksters and scammers posing as book marketers. They have but one goal — to take whatever they can. And they’ll say or do anything to achieve their goal.
