In recent months, most writers I know have had to contend with regular AI-written emails purporting to come from book clubs or Goodreads list curators or even radio stations. A new version I learned about this week is a fake invite to a genre conventions; when the writer expresses interest, of course, a fee is mentioned.
Well, I found out yesterday that someone–likely heading a spam bot army–is impersonating me.
I’m horrified. The people who are most likely to fall for these scams are new writers, eager for any kind of “in” to the industry. To think that someone in that position could be taken advantage of, in my name… ugh ugh ugh.
I’m mystified as to why the spammers even picked me. I’ve seen friends mention being “contacted” by Margaret Atwood, Donna Tart, and other big name, more literary authors that even non-readers might recognize. I am definitely not of that ilk, and yet, here we are. Goes to show that no one is safe.
I’ll say straight up: if you get an email from a “Beth Cato” out of the blue, it’s probably not me. I’m under a horrible deadline strain right now. I don’t even have time to do blog posts, but I had to make time for this one. (My Bready or Not posts are set up months in advance right now, for my sanity’s sake.) If you get a suspicious email, report it as spam and block it. Please. And do the same for any other spam of this nature. Warn other people about these scams, too, especially writers who are just starting out.
My Blue Sky post on this topic has gone viral. If you’re also on there, please share it as well. Awareness increases safety… and if the spammers stop getting business, they’ll eventually give up. I hope.
Be careful out there.
