⚠️ Moderator Alert: Email scam ⚠️ > Likes and Comments

We’ve been made aware that someone has created a fake Gmail address impersonating one of our moderators and is sending emails claiming to be connected to this group.

Please note: The moderators will not contact you by email. We don’t have your email addresses, and all our communication takes place through GoodReads.

If you receive an email purporting to be from EHRTBM moderators:
◆ Do not reply. Do not click links or open attachments.
◆ Do not share personal information (address, phone number, passwords, payment info, etc.).
◆ Report it to your email provider as phishing, or at least as spam.

One precaution you may wish to take is to ensure that your email address isn’t widely shared on GoodReads:
◆ Do not post it publicly, even in forms such as ‘address at gmail dot com’
◆ Look at your profile settings.
    Specifically, see the options:
    ⬦ “Make my email address visible to:”
        (recommendation: No one)
    ⬦ “Allow Goodreads members to search for me by email”
        (recommendation: unchecked)
This may help prevent scammers’ ability to approach you via email.

If you have any questions, feel free to reply here (since direct messaging through GoodReads is going away).

Also worth noting: We have heard reports of similar fraudulent activity with moderators of other GoodReads groups as well. I can’t say that no other groups ever contact members by email, but unless you are already aware that mods do so, I would recommend treating any such email contact very skeptically. Certainly if they ask for money or personal information, I’d be prepared to report them.

My info has always been private, but it’s good to know about shady business anyway. Thank you for giving the heads-up!

spoko, Thanks for the posting!

spoko wrote: "We’ve been made aware that someone has created a fake Gmail address impersonating one of our moderators and is sending emails claiming to be connected to this group.

Please note: The moderators wi..."

thanks for this

Hi! As an author I was contacted by one of the moderators. My name is Angela M. Sanders, and the email was about my recent book A Whiff of Murder. I just wanted to double-check that the contact was legit. If the email was truly from you, I'm sorry for my overabundance of caution! There have been so many author scams lately that it seemed wise to contact the bookclub directly. Thank you!

Angela wrote: “Hi! As an author I was contacted by one of the moderators. My name is Angela M. Sanders, and the email was about my recent book A Whiff of Murder. I just wanted to double-check that the contact was...”

Angela—as noted above, we never contact anyone by email. So any email you received purporting to be from us was not legitimate. Please report it to your email provider as a phishing attempt, or at least as a spam.

Thanks!

I will do that. Thank you!

Thanks for the heads up!

Wow, this is pretty scary. Thank you for posting this!

Thank you for posting this. As an author I have now received two emails from a "member" of this group. I looked up the group and was relieved to find your post. I have reported it as phishing.

Ashli wrote: “Thank you for posting this. As an author I have now received two emails from a “member” of this group. I looked up the group and was relieved to find your post. I have reported it as phishing.”

Glad you checked—thanks for reporting it!

Yes, this is a scam- I just received this from someone claiming to be part of your group- I am reprinting to show how clever it all seems!
"AI is out of control".

Dear Jefferson,

Fred on a Date with the World has been living in my head rent-free since I turned the last page, and I have to be honest with you.

I'm still thinking about Fred, a retiree who moves to Martha's Vineyard after seeing an obituary for a fish. Six months later, he has charmed everyone with his warm smile, homemade cookies, and strange little habits, like hiding quarters around town for strangers to find. But then everything changes. Fred confesses to a murder. His son, who thought moving to the island to rebuild an old bed-and-breakfast was his chance to start over after a messy divorce, is thrown into a whirlwind of mystery. A quirky, heartfelt, and unexpectedly mysterious tale about family, forgiveness, and the surprises we find when we think it's too late for adventure? It's been days since I finished, and it won't leave my head. That doesn't happen often.

I'm Jacki Johnson with https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/... (28,872+ members). We're selecting 12 authors for our 2026 Author Spotlight Program, and I have a question I'd love to ask you about your book.

Would you be open to a 2-minute chat? A simple "yes" is all I need, and I'll explain everything

Charles wrote: “Yes, this is a scam- I just received this from someone claiming to be part of your group- I am reprinting to show how clever it all seems!”

Thanks for sharing that—it’s the first actual example that I’ve seen. I’m impressed with how close they got to our member count! (Current member count is 28,941.) That information isn’t easy to find, even as a moderator!

It’s a little weird that the email summarizes your own book to you—seems like something an AI would do, more so than a real human fan. But otherwise, I can see how a person might assume it was legitimate.

Thanks again for sharing!

spoko wrote: "We’ve been made aware that someone has created a fake Gmail address impersonating one of our moderators and is sending emails claiming to be connected to this group.

Please note: The moderators wi..."

As an author, I was contacted by the following person through my author's website stating she is part of this group and interested in sharing one of my books here. Not always easy to tell if it is legit or not, so I've shared her details with you to find out. - https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2...

Stewart wrote: "spoko wrote: "We’ve been made aware that someone has created a fake Gmail address impersonating one of our moderators and is sending emails claiming to be connected to this group.

Please note: The..."

Stewart, this person is NOT a member of this group, so I suggest you ignore the message from them.

I've been emailed by a Grace Beck, with a readersdiscovery. labs gmail address, pertaing to be from your Group, and offering me a spotlight from $200 upwards to feature one of my novels

P.F. wrote: "I've been emailed by a Grace Beck, with a readersdiscovery. labs gmail address, pertaing to be from your Group, and offering me a spotlight from $200 upwards to feature one of my novels"

Such emails never come from us. Please see the top post for our suggestions as to your response.