Quick Tip #3
by Cathie Dunn
In between posts by guest authors and designers, I'll be sharing short, concise Quick Tips, to make your author life a little easier. Here’s the third:
* Spot the Social Media Scammers! *
"Ooh, a fellow writer. I must follow them. And here, a book promoter. How exciting! They want to promote my book."
Over the past 15+ years, social media has become a (mostly) free gift to authors: sites where to share news of their books, their writing, their research. And this worked well across a range of platforms for years. Facebook, with its Pages, so you can gather followers. Twitter (now X) where you can share posts, with live links, about your books. Instagram, with its growing Bookstagram community. And more recently, TikTok, where you can share short, sweet clips.
Adverts and paid post-boosts notwithstanding, we managed for over a decade, to share our posts for free with our friends and followers, and for them to share the news more widely, thus creating an effective network.
But this fun could not last, could it?
Of course not.
In recent years, spammers and scammers have moved in across all social media platforms, pouncing on the unsuspecting and – dare I say it – gullible. (Sorry!)
I've lost count of the number of Keanus and Prince Harrys I've come across, on Twitter, IG, and, most recently Bluesky too.
Block. Block. Block.
These type of fake accounts are the obvious ones, so pretty much every author (I hope) is clued up enough to know that these accounts are not the real deal.
Equally, if the account name seems off (Williams Steven, or such like), it's a fake. Overtly ’Christian’ fathers or a philosophical bio or posts – also often a fake. If there's no genuine timeline apart from a few chosen images of themselves, report and block. But where there's one, there'll be more, so keep checking your followers.
But more recently, a more sinister trend has begun, and even the savviest authors (including this one) can fall for it.
There are two types we focus on today:
1.) Scammers pretending to be authors. Many don't bother anymore to hack authors’ accounts (though this still happens a lot!), but instead set up a new account. Deeply sinister. Often, this happens on social media outlets those authors are not signed up to. And then they seek out their followers, follow them – et voilà: we think those authors have finally joined those other sites. And we follow them without hesitation.
These scammers are clever, taking content, images & texts from the real authors, and putting up their own posts with all those details. It's a convoluted way of going about this. Yet they're still fake, and their number is growing.
2.) Book promoters. But these types are not our competition, so it's not all sour grapes from our part. They are truly fake accounts.
They call themselves ’book promoters’ on Twitter, IG, Bluesky, etc, add a few relevant hashtags to their account details, post random book links and ’philosophical’ quotes – all to appear legit. Yet they never have a website. Their contact with their victims is via social media, and I've now idea how their payment structure works – but don't ever give them your credit card or bank details!
Real book promoters (also editors, proofreaders, and other book professionals!) have websites where you can see what they've done, how they work, their prices, payment options, and posts.
So here are a few easy tips on how to spot them:
Fake authors first:
- If you receive a friend request from an author (even a friend!) – check if it's real. You can send an email or private message through another social media outlet. In most cases, it's now a fake. Report and block that fake account – and warn the author!
- Author friends never send direct messages asking for help or money. They just don't do it. Nope. It's a fake. Report and block, and warn the real author.
- Check who's commenting on your posts. If something seems ’off’, double-check the account. You know how your friends talk online. They wouldn't just say ’great cover – where did you get it’ or ’hello’, especially when you didn't ask for such feedback. If you respond, you'll promptly be directed you to a ’brilliant’ designer or promoter. Be very careful!
- Check your followers regularly, ideally once a week, and weed out all those that appear fakes. There will always be some.
- If you're looking for feedback, or a designer, editor, or promoter – ask your friends, ideally in a closed writers' group. There are many genuine author support groups out there, especially on FB. But always check the credentials of anyone recommended before signing on the dotted line.
As regards fake book promoters, there are a few easy signs:
- Profile photos. These tend to be stock images – men or women in ’office gear’, looking awfully professional. If you go to Google Images (top right-hand corner on Google web page) and copy the photo into it, it shows you where else that image has been posted. And that's where you'll find it on stock photo sites, or even on other social media accounts under different names. (I once found four different fake account names with the same stock image!)
- Lack of website. Book professionals have blogs or websites. We are businesses, and need to be visible. Authors see our content, posts, prices, etc. That's where you can see if a particular person is for you. Never on social media alone!
- Lack of author engagement or followers. Many of these ’highly-experienced book promoters’ have a very low number of followers. It's a strong clue. Yes, new businesses start small, but the content – genuine posts with author engagement – shows you which ones are real, and which ones just post generic stuff they found on the internet. Anyone can put a quote from a famous author on a simple banner created free on Canva. It's certainly no sign of a genuine account. Quite the opposite!
- Private messages. They're a pest. They'll message you – repeatedly, until you block them – telling you how much they liked ’your book’ (umm, which??), and how they'll be able to help you promote it. Nope, genuine book promoters don't do that. It's considered spamming.
Genuine book promoters are found through recommendations by author friends and communities.
Lastly, you may ask, what's the purpose behind all this scamming & spamming?
This could have many reasons: getting your bank / credit card details, data harvesting (a big one), data scrambling (political preferences, for example), identity theft, easy money for a poor promo job. I'm sure there are more reasons...
These are just a few simple steps to ensure you're aware of the various threats (and yes, they are threats!) to your identity, your social media presence, your books' content (but that's for another time) – and your wallet.
Happy sharing! 💝
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