Chirenjenzie discussion

Hi all, just a heads up that there's an autograph scam going around. Got an email from a goodreads users named Danya that started out with "you are my hero. I LOVE YOUR BOOKS." and went on to tell me how great my books are (without mentioning me or my books by name or giving any details at all) and asked for an autographed copy. It was so generic that it made me suspicious, and I found that this same user had posted the same email almost verbatim as a comment on another author's page, so I commented and warned her that it's probably a scam. Sure enough, she wrote back and said she's gotten this multiple times through goodreads and email and that because it was so generic, she also assumed it was a scam.

A quick web search says that this started in 2009. Not sure what they're trying to get out of it, except that they're probably just reselling our books, or trying to get a hold of our return addresses or signatures. And speaking of which, I have a "fake" signature that I use as my autograph that is nothing like my legal signature, and I recommend everyone take the same approach.

Cheers,
Jacquelyn

Thanks for the heads up Jacquelynn. do you mind if I post this on the goodreads librarian site?

Sure, good idea. I already flagged her message, and it would be great to get the word out to authors. So easy to be taken in by messages from seemingly adoring fans... sigh.

Wow! Thanks for this, I don't have any books out, but this is always good infor to know. And smart about the signature, too. That's a good idea.