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Spooky Phishing Scam Targets Traditionally-Published Writers Posted: 22 Dec 2020 10:49 AM PST Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware® The New York Times has published the story of a strange international phishing scam: unknown actors targeting traditionally-published writers, posing as their agents or editors to obtain copies of their unpublished manuscripts. Earlier this month, the book industry website Publishers Marketplace announced that Little, Brown would be publishing “Re-Entry,” a novel by James Hannaham about a transgender woman paroled from a men’s prison. The book would be edited by Ben George. The phisher, or phishers, employ clever tactics like transposing letters in official-looking email addresses (like "penguinrandornhouse.com" instead of "penguinrandomhouse.com") and masking the addresses so they only show when the recipient hits "Reply". They know how publishing works and appear to have access to inside information, utilizing not just public sources like acquisition announcements in trade publications, but details that are harder to uncover: writers' email addresses, their relationships with agents and editors, delivery and deadline dates, even details of the manuscripts themselves. And they are ramping up their operations. According to the Times, the scam began appearing "at least" three years ago, but in the past year "the volume of these emails has exploded in the United States." One of the leading theories in the publishing world, which is rife with speculation over the thefts, is that they are the work of someone in the literary scouting community. Scouts arrange for the sale of book rights to international publishers as well as to film and television producers, and what their clients pay for is early access to information — so an unedited manuscript, for example, would have value to them. I heard about the scam a couple of months ago, from an author who was targeted after their forthcoming book was announced on Publishers Marketplace. What they reported to me tracks with the information above, including the credible approach by the writer's own editor or agent (complete with authentic-looking email signature), a credible excuse for why they wanted the writer to send the manuscript again, and the altered sending address. The writer did send the ms., and didn't discover until they talked to their agent that they'd been tricked. Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster have sent out warnings, as have agents, one of whom offers this helpful advice: If you receive an email requesting sensitive information or items (manuscripts, contracts, etc.) to be sent via email, or to follow a link to sign a document, please consider the following steps: To be clear, there's no connection here with the crude agent and publisherimpersonation scams I've been writing about for the last year or so. This is a sophisticated scheme by a person or persons familiar with the publishing industry (including its lingo) who understands the ins and outs of acquisition and production and has access to inside information. There's also no obvious monetary angle--unlike the impersonation scams I've previously reported, where the whole point is to screw as many thousands of dollars out of unsuspecting writers as possible. More reporting at Jezebel. |
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