The First Clue to an Email Scam May Be the Address

I doubt that there will be anyone reading this article who hasn’t been targeted by a writing scam. That’s how prevalent and aggressive they are these days. Fraudsters who prey on writers employ a variety of methods to recruit clients: advertising (especially on Facebook, which is awash in ads for scam publishing service providers), sponsored links on Google (plug “find a publisher” into Google, and the top results will be for scam or vanity publishers), social media activity (watch out for seemingly friendly DM contacts)–and, most often, direct solicitation via email and phone calls purporting to offer publishing or agenting or film adaptation services…and, increasingly, impersonating companies and professionals in those fields. Real, reputable literary agents and publishers and film production people, by contrast, rarely reach out to writers directly. But while that’s true 99% of the time, you can’t say it never happens. And for writerly activities like conferences, or interview or…