There are a lot of people trying to scam money out of authors. Writer Beware has recently written about a new AI-assisted scam. In this one, scammers use artificial intelligence (AI) to read your reviews or book, then customise an email sales pitch designed to get authors to part with their hard-earned dollars.
Yes, just one more reason to not like ChatGPT and other data-scraping large-language models (LLMs).
I actually got one of these emails this week.
The writer starts by saying all sorts of lovely things about my book. Based on the details she shared the first three paragraphs I genuinely thought she’d read Always in My Heart:
“You’ve packed so much heart into this second-chance romance: the layered family dynamics, the small-town warmth, and that quietly brave faith that runs just beneath the surface. Maya and Trent’s reunion doesn’t just spark emotion, it reflects the kind of real-life love that’s messy, redemptive, and worth the risk.”
How sweet! But then the tone changed:
“That’s why I’d love to help get Always In My Heart in front of even more readers who are already searching for this kind of feel-good, faith-driven, small-town romance.”
Now my spidey-senses were tingling. Then came the real truth:
“I run a visibility service that supports authors like you, helping Christian romance and contemporary women’s fiction titles stand out on platforms like Goodreads.”
She then gave a couple of examples, like “targeted Listopia placement” (i.e. adding my book to a Goodreads list).
The truth is, if dear Sandra Rolex really had wanted to help get my book in front of more readers, she could already have added my books to lists. She could already have posted reviews on Amazon or Goodreads or her website. Or posted cute quote memes on Instagram or Pinterest. Or talked about it on TikTok or YouTube or her podcast.
All for free.
What initially impressed me was how much Sandra apparently knew about my book. It seemed as if she was an actual person who’d read my book … but she hasn’t. She’s an AI who has either been fed a pirated copy, or who has summarised my Amazon reviews.
Either way, it’s a scam designed to prey our our desire for external praise and validation.
As Christian writers, we need to remember that our identity is in Jesus. He loves us so much that He died for us. Rest in Him, and seek His praise only.
Thank you.
Hi Iola, Thanks for sharing your experiences. I’ve also received (and auto-deleted) these spammy emails from scammers.
Sadly, scammers have now perfected the art of the AI-assisted love bomb… and the toxic consequences are just as devastating as the real life situations where toxic people love bomb others in order to use, abuse, and take advantage of them.
Scammers understand human psychology and AI provides them with yet another tool to add to their playbook and assist them in hunting new prey.
If something sounds too good to be true…it mostly likely is—and the best course of action is to run in the opposite direction.