A Scarlet Trail of Scammers

11 minutes ago

6 min read

Scammers are out in full force almost everywhere these days. Recently published authors are no exception. Fraudulent companies, people, and other entities have their knives out and are ready to target new authors. They often show up on social media platforms and in an author’s email with promises that are too good to be true. Remember that old saying? If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Trust your instincts. Do not dismiss that gut feeling—that little tingle in your belly warning you that something is off. Remain vigilant and skeptical. If an offer seems too perfect, too easy, and carries an incredibly high reward, it might be a scam or a trap with a hidden agenda. Any unsolicited email is suspect.

Threads of Red has been targeted multiple times. What do I do? Report spam, never click on links, do not engage, and BLOCK!

Which authors among us wouldn’t love to become a best-seller overnight, be interviewed by a major network, or even a prominent local news station? Who wouldn’t love to be featured in exclusive magazines or influential online platforms? I’m sure we’d all love to be nominated for a prestigious literary prize.

How many of us dream about having our book adapted into a Hollywood movie or Netflix series? What debut author wouldn’t love to have a book event at Barnes & Noble? Fraudulent entities will promise us the world. In reality, they want to steal our personal data or trick us into paying massive upfront fees for results that never materialize.

Scammers prey on an author’s need for exposure, using clever psychological strategies designed specifically to target our vulnerabilities. These fraudulent offers often reference specific keywords pulled directly from our book title, teaser, or the short synopsis found on Amazon, Goodreads, or another platform where our book is featured. Some masquerade as innocent reading communities or book clubs that don’t actually exist. They may mention our characters by name along with a few of our novel’s tropes to convince us of their “legitimacy” and to show us they’ve done their homework.

Fraudsters also try to trick us by attaching their names to legitimate organizations like Goodreads. However, if you take a deeper dive by clicking on the dropdown arrow under the email address, you will see mismatched names. Please note that a legitimate publisher or organization will never use a free email platform to conduct official business.

After a flattering paragraph about our book, they will appeal to our ambitions and invite us to join their exclusive “reading challenge” or offer to help us with marketing and positioning our book to the right audience.

Below are a few emails I have received.

See if you can spot the sycophantic language—devised to get me to let my guard down. They aren't praising or referencing my book because they actually read it or love it; they are weaponizing fake flattery to give me hope and render me pliable so I’ll engage.

In this first email, the sender uses a reading challenge impersonation scam. According to Google, “A real representative of a massive, 3,000+ member community would have an official domain name (e.g., emma@readingchallenge.com), not a free, generic address.” She uses words like “selected books” and “top ten” to lead me to believe this is an esteemed community and that if my book is chosen I will have several thousand readers to engage with. She also sent a follow-up email.

Grace and peace to you.

My name is Emma Grace and I’m reaching out on behalf of a reading community of over 3,000 readers who value engaging stories and thoughtful discussion.

We’re preparing for our 2026 Reading Challenge, a year-long initiative that encourages readers to discover books that inspire meaningful conversations and reflection.

Threads of Red immediately stood out for its blend of romantic suspense, supernatural elements, ancient magic, fate, and high-stakes danger. Ellie and Ezekiel’s connection, alongside the threat surrounding them, offers readers plenty of themes to explore and discuss.

Selected books receive continued engagement through reader discussions, reflections, and community interaction. At the conclusion of the challenge, the Top 10 most discussed and engaged books will be formally recognized within the community.

We would be honored to feature Threads of Red in the 2026 Reading Challenge. If you’re interested, please let me know, and I’ll share the next steps.

Blessings,

XXX

Reading Community

Same Sender—Follow-up: Hi, I just wanted to follow up on my previous message in case it got buried. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks so much!

***This email has been reported and blocked.

The sender of this next email also sent a follow-up when I didn’t respond to the first. Note the name of the sender. Leigh Rivers is a legitimate, New York Times and USA Today bestselling dark romance author not a publisher, literary agent, a manuscript service, or legit marketer. She’s an individual writer. How do I know? I did a simple Google search. According to my search, “scammers often weaponize the names of popular indie and traditionally published authors to trick aspiring writers into phishing traps, fake publishing deals, or identity theft schemes.” Zone in on the flatter and buzzwords below.

What a nice touch to add in Email #2— “there is no obligation at all.” Oh, how wonderful, out of the millions of books out there, Leigh Rivers, a best-selling author has found Threads of Red and wants to help me, no strings attached. How special am I, LOL? Meanwhile, as of today, my book hasn’t been released yet. Lastly, understand that this is an unsolicited contact and one who just happens to write dark romance.

Email 1

Hi E. L. Ambrico,

I recently came across Threads of Red, and what immediately caught my attention was how naturally it sits at the intersection of several very strong reader interests. It isn’t simply a romantic suspense novel—the combination of fated love, reincarnation, ancient mythology, Hollywood glamour, obsession, and a stalking threat gives the story several different entry points for readers.

The red threads of fate are particularly interesting from a marketing perspective. The idea of two people being mystically bound across time, while simultaneously dealing with a very real and dangerous threat in the present, creates a strong emotional and supernatural hook.

I could see the book being positioned across a few different conversations: readers who love fated-mate and reincarnation romances, audiences drawn to supernatural romance and mythology, romantic-suspense readers looking for darker stakes, and readers who enjoy stories involving celebrity culture, obsession, and psychological tension.

Rather than promoting the book with one broad message, I would look at developing distinct angles for each of these audiences and identifying the specific communities, podcasts, publications, reader groups, and online conversations where those themes already have an audience.

That is the kind of targeted book marketing I focus on—finding what makes a particular book distinctive and then building the outreach around the audiences most likely to connect with those elements.

I think Threads of Red has some particularly interesting angles to work with, and I’d be happy to share a few ideas on how I would approach its positioning and audience outreach.

Best,

Leigh Rivers

Book Marketer & Author

StoryBridge Literary

Email 2—Same Sender/Follow-up

Hi E. L. Ambrico,

I wanted to follow up on my note about Threads of Red.

I still think the combination of reincarnation, fated love, mythology, romantic suspense, and the darker stalking element gives the book several strong avenues for reaching different reader communities.

I’d be happy to put together a brief breakdown of the specific audiences and promotional angles I think are worth exploring for the book, including how I would approach the outreach.

There’s no obligation at all I thought it might be useful simply to see what a targeted approach could look like for Threads of Red.

If you’d like me to send it over, just let me know.

Best,

Leigh Rivers

Book Marketer & Author

StoryBridge Literary

***Reported as SPAM and blocked

In the last email below, the sender uses that mismatched identity I spoke about above, but has the audacity to include a fake profile picture and claim they are from Goodreads. She also sent a follow-up when I didn’t respond. I put this email into a Google search and it was confirmed as an “absolute scam.”

Email 1

On Wed, Jul 29, 2026 at 9:55 PM Lori Nates <lindacarter.books@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello,

I hope this message finds you well.

Congratulations on your book. We enjoyed learning about your work and would like to extend an invitation to feature it in an upcoming Goodreads Author Spotlight.

The spotlight introduces authors and their books to our reading community, giving readers an opportunity to discover new titles and learn more about the people behind them.

If this is of interest, we'd be pleased to share more information.

Thank you for your time, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Lori

Lead Moderator

Email 2—Same Sender

Lori Nates <lindacarter.books@gmail.com>

Aug 20, 2026, 9:31 AM

to me

Hi,

I just wanted to follow up on my earlier message in case it got missed.

I know you’re busy, so I’ll keep this brief. I’d still be happy to share the details of the reader feature and explain how it works.