ALERT!!! Fake author accounts sending friend requests > Likes and Comments
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Thanks for the heads up. I've had quite a few friend requests recently from "well known authors" I will report from now on.
I've been getting these along with five star ratings and solicitation for their marketing services. Which is it, are you a famous author or a marketing genius? I've been reporting them and the ratings vanish when the account gets removed.
They have been plaguing Twitter for a while now, and now they are in Goodreads. I didn't know how to report them, but they are gone after I ignored them. The sign is many ratings, all 5 stars, 0 review.
The down-arrow on the account's "home" page (that would let you message them) has an option to report that account.
I've had loads. Been fun reporting them
They have been so annoying. I just report, block.
The fakes always seem to have joined GR recently. Also, if authors, their books should be listed - if not, they’re fake. To double check, perform a search to find the author’s actual site to see if it looks different.
Eliza wrote: "They have been so annoying. I just report, block."Yup, me too.
Thanks for letting us know. I've been deleting the requests, but from now on, I'll report them.
Wow, LOL! I just got a friend request from Agatha Christie! (NOT)
Lynn wrote: "Wow, LOL! I just got a friend request from Agatha Christie! (NOT)"Omg!!! lol
I report these, too. I also got friended last week (I blocked rather than accept) by multiple scammy book marketers who jumped in with the usual AI messages they do over on social media. They also 5* one of my books, which I assumed were going to be switched over to 1* as soon as I didn't agree to send them money. I reported the messages to GR for spam and the accounts were deleted the next day.
This has been going on for a while on other SM platforms, but it's happening more now here. It's important to report them so the accounts are on GR's radar and get deleted because they may be doing bad things with reviews (revenge rating anyone who doesn't send money.) A friend of mine had this happen to her where she politely engaged one of these scammers a few times back and forth, and when she declined to pay for their editorial services, they and several of their scammer sock puppets 1-starred all her books. Those 1*s are still up. GR hasn't removed them.
I block these accounts and report right away.
There's been a recent rash of friend requests coming from numerous "well-known authors" that are actually fake accounts that have joined GR recently.
If you get any of these, I suggest reporting them.