Underground Knowledge — A discussion group discussion

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT:

It has come to my attention scammers are trying to get money out of people using my name. From what I’m hearing, it seems thousands of screenwriters and authors have been contacted in recent weeks – all supposedly being told I can assist them for a fee.



I have been alerted to this by the likes of US and British authors and filmmakers, as well as several film agencies within New Zealand (e.g. The New Zealand Film Commission, Film Bay of Plenty and The New Zealand Writers Guild).

I've been forwarded examples of these scam letters and they are mentioning an "Underground Knowledge Club". The scammers are leveraging off a book and film series I've written called Underground Knowledge...there is also this group here I co-founded on Goodreads called Underground Knowledge, plus a YouTube channel by that name. However I provide no such services in relation to that brand.

Please know that I will never ask for money in a consultancy capacity to help out other filmmakers or authors. Also, as a writer-director & actor I’m currently focused on delivering my next movies and books and have no time beyond that.

I must also say that this seems to be one downside of AI. Scammers are suddenly able to use AI to write fairly convincing business pitches/proposals from artists like myself...and instantly make them very personalized to whoever they are trying to scam.

Sincerely,
James Morcan