EPISODE 41: Dangers Lurking in PLAIN SIGHT on Facebook Author Groups! DON’T BE THE NEXT VICTIM!

LISTEN: Apple | Spotify | iHeart | YouTube | More Episodes!

Could that very active fellow Facebook author group member really be a SCAMMER? Chances are pretty high THEY ARE!

Publishing scammers have infiltrated Facebook’s author groups to perform DATA MINING! What’s the problem, you ask? All they have is your Facebook profile link, and maybe the book cover you posted to the group. So, what’s the big deal?

That’s not ALL they have! They start with your profile, and within minutes, they likely know more about you than your next-door neighbor. But how???

When someone in your Facebook author/writer group posts things like this, BEWARE!

“Authors, drop your book cover! Show us your masterpiece!”
“Post the links to your books! Let’s help each other out!”
“Show us your author website!”

But, what if they simply ask a very general “tickler” question of all the members? They’re starting a specific discussion for a specific reason! They know what they’re doing, and hundreds of unwary authors respond!

“Tell us what you’re currently working on!”
“Tell us what makes your book special in one sentence!”
“What’s the best platform for me to market my book?”

And, guess what? Some of these data mining scammers are actually the MODERATORS of author groups on Facebook! And the group members have NO IDEA!

If you respond to those ridiculous posts, it may seem innocent on your part (and it is), but it is NOT innocent on the part of the scammers. How can engaging them hurt you? A bunch of other folks in the group are doing it. It’s free publicity, right? You are proud of your book! And who knows? Someone might just BUY A COPY! So, you engage the scammer (who you think is just another author)…

CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve just painted a target on yourself for scammers.

Many Facebook groups for authors and writers have hundreds and even thousands of members. Many of those require nothing more than to click a “JOIN” button. A good number in the group, however, never post in the group, or even look at it again. Some groups are old and the “members” have gone stagnant on Facebook. The scammers are looking for living, breathing members who have active manuscripts to publish, and books to promote. That means YOU are far more likely to become their next target!

Overseas scammers want to target authors with offers to publish their books, edit their books, offer fake movie deals, promote their books – you name it. They have literally dozens of fake services to offer! And, finding an active author with a book to publish or sell is the very FIRST step they take with data mining.

Listen to this episode to learn how scammers can take one small link (your Facebook profile) to gather TONS of personal information about you from across the Internet!

And, we’ll tell you how they use that information to fool potential victims, and suck their wallets dry.

Listen to this week’s episode, #41, and learn the tricks and tactics these parasites are using to get your personal information to target you with opportunities to give your money away, and never see it again. You will also learn how to protect yourself.

Join us as we dissect the dark underbelly of Facebook Author Groups!

💬 Leave a Comment

Do you think you might be the victim of a publishing scam? CONTACT ANGELA AND BRIAN.

If you need legal assistance at a very affordable rate, contact JAMES M. WALSH, ESQ.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

💬 Leave a Comment

HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.