Thanks to Nate Hoffelder's morning coffee for the heads-up on a new warning from everyone's favorite scambuster, Victoria Strauss. The subject of her latest exposé is two more entries into the increasingly overstuffed canon of AI-generated scams targeting authors. Both of these follow the same trajectory. They begin with a very eloquently composed (or, at least, composed without the scam signs we've been told to look out for over decades) email request. And end, of course, with a special deal and some bonus extras, all for a reasonable (!) fee.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
How the Scams Work
One of these scams invites writers to participate in book fairs and offers special packages to help them make the most of that participation. The other invites writers to take part in radio shows. Again, these are genuine shows (the shows are real; the request is not). And again, it turns out there's a fee involved for the privilege.
What's particularly useful in Victoria Strauss's piece is her list of things to look out for at the end. Some of these, the strange salutation (often “Dear first name last name”), the generic email address, and of course the request for payment when a genuine opportunity wouldn't make such a request, are familiar from scamwatching tips we're used to. Others around language and the way AI writes are really useful for anyone not yet attuned to the new wave of scams.
AAP Targets Pirate Site Anna's Archive
And on the subject of things that make one harrumph, breaking news comes from the AGM of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) about one of the latest lawsuits. It concerns the case against Anna's Archive, a pirate website being targeted by the AAP after a similar action by Spotify. The pirate platform did not respond to the case brought against it (as was also the case with Spotify), so it now looks likely that the substantial damages sought for breach of copyright will be awarded. The problem is that they are unlikely to be paid, and it is unclear what the actual sanction against such sites might be. AAP's Maria Pallante would like to see much greater powers to block such sites.
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