Scram scammers, part one

I caught these self-publishing scammers red-handed

"Why is it so hard to trust people? The real question should be: Why is it so hard for people to tell the truth?”

— RE:

Hi, friend! Email me $29.95 and I'll show you how to avoid scammers. They are everywhere. I'm kidding! (I hope you knew this. If you didn’t, I worry for you. Because…there are scammers everywhere.)

So, trust no unknown callers or weird emails, or weird links in texts, like I do! And suspect everyone, like I do.

I was thrilled to see one of my all-time favourite authors’ byline a few weeks ago in the Globe and Mail. I wrote about her and my feelings about when your favourite author decides to retire here (as if you haven’t had an emotional connection with their writing for half your life. The nerve!)

Unfortunately, my favourite author wrote about an all-too-common experience of being scammed out of $15,000. 

The scammers had her running around all day. They were masking as her bank, pretending they were trying to catch a bank employee stealing money, and insisting that she would be doing them a great service by helping them. 

They were so skilled, they managed to keep her on the phone for 8 hours, guiding her to take out her own money (which they assured would be put back in) and walking her through buying thousands upon thousands of dollars in gift cards at various stores, and then convinced her to scratch and read the code on the back of each gift card to whoever called her.

By the end of the day? My favourite author lost $15,000. She will not get the money back because she took it out “of her own free will,” as her bank told her. She makes a good point in her must-read article about this experience, or so I think, which is that she is 71 years old, was suddenly woken up by a scammer’s call in the morning, when she was still highly groggy, so was she really doing all of this of own free will?

(Please, please, please share her article with your elderly parents, friends and relatives, who may be feeling lonely and fall for such scammers, who do usually prey on the vulnerable and elderly.) 

I felt terrible for my favourite author, and I feel terrible for saying that I hope she writes a novel “inspired” by her experience with skilled scammers. (Hint. hint)

There are even a ton of scammers in the publishing world. Much like selling penny stocks, some publishing companies may not exactly be illegal but are cringe-worthy and unseemly, at best. 

But some may be illegal. 

At the very least, hundreds and hundreds of self-publishing/hybrid/vanity press companies have popped up in recent years — since so many authors are choosing to self-publish — that will promise your book will be an instant overnight bestseller if you use their services (no one can ever promise that. Run!) Or they will promise you services they never follow through on and will keep adding costs they never care to mention upfront to get your book up on Amazon websites around the world.

This is why in part two, I interviewed a local author who was scammed by a local “hybrid/self-publisher,” paying them $2,000 to have her book put up on Amazon. And yet her book can’t be found on Amazon. And the "company" founder isn't returning her calls. 

It's a cautionary tale and a must-read interview for anyone thinking about working with a hybrid/vanity press/any company that promises to help you self-publish your book by saying, "We do everything!” (“Everything,” it seems, but “everything" they promised when you paid them.) You can read it here later! (Be prepared for your blood pressure to rise.)

And then there’s David Steel from writerslife.org. This guy bugs the fuck out of me. I get about 18 emails from him a day because I'm too lazy to unsubscribe. I know. I know.

He uses clickbait subject lines like, “Here's how you can sell 80,000 books,” or writes in his emails, “Would you like to double or triple your mystery novel's sales?” 

He didn't even take a Thanksgiving break, flooding my inbox with, “Learn how to get paid to write” and leading subscribers to numerous “guides" or webinars you can purchase: “Schedule a 100% free coaching call with one of our publishing industry experts!” During this call, they will offer you a special, personalized roadmap to becoming a bestselling author on Amazon Kindle.” (Which means they are coming after you for more money!)

David Steel went further, encouraging subscribers to look at "our entire collection of on-demand writing webinars and online programs designed for writers of all genres.” 

In his last email, it read, “David Steel has climbed from the depths of just barely making it in the publishing world to heights most people only dream of. His ticket to gaining it all? Becoming one of the super-writers of the publishing community. Now, he’s sharing the secrets to a lasting career as a writer, author, freelancer, poet, and publisher with you — with no details left out.”

Sounds good, right? Except David Steel is leaving out one fucking important detail, which is THERE IS NO DAVID STEEL! It's a totally made-up name! I’ll tell you how I found out about this shortly, but let’s just say don't fuck with a self-described detective. (Maybe I’ve been reading too many “cozy mysteries” lately, as Maya B writes about in part three coming next week!)

“Sometimes it's not enough to have information,” were some more words inside the email I received from one of David Steel’s most recent emails. “Sometimes you need to actually put it into action, and that's exactly what Writer's Life is all about — this community is designed to give you EACH step that you need to become not just a writer but a bestselling writer, one that is loved worldwide…” Blah. Blah, Blah…because, again, there are no exact steps to becoming a bestselling writer, let alone one that is loved worldwide.

And don't think you're the exception. You're being scammed.

David Steel even started his latest email with, "Hey there friend, it’s David Steel — Writerslife.org — and I want to introduce you to a couple friends of mine. Take a look at Seth. Seth earned over 4,500 in a week…hit 5k per month in 30 days...and actually is clearing 20k per month now!”

Apparently, the only difference between me and Successful Seth is that "Seth" clicked the link BELOW — a link I’m too scared to click. Thanks, but I’ll take my chances on not buying one of his millions of guides ON SALE for only $47.

“P.S.” David Steel continued writing, “I’ll be raising the price shortly — make sure you grab your copy for the low cost launch price before it’s too late!”

Doesn’t that sound like an actual person?

Well, I wanted to find out, because his stupefying amount of daily emails — promising me I’ll become a better writer 12 times a day in 12 different ways — started to get a little sloppy, with a misspelled word here and there. And then suddenly, I was not only getting emails from David Steel from writerslife.org, but I was also starting to get emails from a James Michael from writerslife.org. 

One of James's emails even ended with a signature from David scrawled in blue.

Think about these names. David Steel, James Michael… It’s a lot like getting an email from John Smith. Run! 

How did I find out that there was no one person named David Steel, even though I was getting emails from David Steel? I actually called the 1-866-752-9968 number at the very bottom of one of their incessant emails, plugging out all their services and guides, where you can unsubscribe (thank goodness) and where it also shows their address is a PO Box in Garner, North Carolina — weird for a huge business. If you were to write to them, it wouldn’t be addressed to David Steel or James Michael but to something called “Platinum Millennium.”

I called the number well after business hours. I think it was around 7:30 p.m. I’m not saying writerslife.org is doing anything illegal. But it is definitely shady to make up a name, pretend you’re someone you’re not, make promises that not even G-d would guarantee, and sign off as David, when, again, THERE IS NO DAVID!

So, to me, at least the people behind David Steel, and now James Michael, are being shady at best or fraudulent at worst, lying about their names, making promises that are impossible to make in publishing, prying on the vulnerable writer who will do and buy anything to publish a book, including purchasing guides that David, also, apparently did not write.

Whoever is behind David Steel is smart enough to get writers to actually click to purchase their guides and publish their books (after they’ve signed up for a million webinars or a free coaching session, which will encourage those who are a touch on the gullible side to publish their book for an insane amount of money.) 

But they were not smart enough to hire the right person on a Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. 

I called the number and asked for David Steel, to which the not-so-smart (or untrained) person who answered the phone (over some ambient chatter that sounded exactly like a call centre) told me there was no David Steel — that it was a pen name. He also said the guides were auto-generated.

I called back the next morning, just to double-check. The woman who picked up this time was slightly smarter. Slightly. I kept asking for a phone number for David Steel, who she said was the Editor-in-Chief of writerslife.org.

I asked numerous times for a phone number — any number! She could not provide one. Not one. For a huge business? I'm sorry, I found it all so suspect. When I said to her that I did not believe there was a David Steel, she asked for my phone number to call me back. What do you think I did? I hung up.

And then I called right back. The same lame answering service and voice answered. The woman recognized my voice, told me that “David Steel is not around but I'll give you his phone number…”  and then… she immediately hung up on me! And no, this was not a dropped call. She literally hung up on me, which is something one would do when they are either caught or can't answer a question.

I tried calling back. The line was suddenly busy. I called back again, was on hold, and then my call was dropped. 

So basically, no one there will talk to me. And when pressed, they hung up on me and put me on hold, only to hang up on me again.

Does this sound like an up-and-up business to you?

Finally, I called back one more time, only to hear the same voice — but this time, I asked for James Michael. She couldn't find anyone named James Michael. "Who is James Michael?" she asked.

She also promised me she had met David Steel, but when I said, “You hung up on me after you said you'd give me his phone number," she replied that she could only take my information and that someone would contact me. No matter how hard I pressed, the voice would not give me any contact information.

Yeah, go fuck yoursel,f David Steel or James Michael. Whether you’re legit or not, you’re still scamming people, even if they choose to fall for it.

FYI, according to bbb.org (the better Business Business Bureau), Platinum Millennium got an F-rating. There have been 50 complaints filed against Platinum Millennium Publishing in the last three years, more than half because of billing issues.

Most of them go like this complaint filed 11/02/2021: 

"I signed up for a class on writerslife.com June 202. I then started getting charged $67, mostly charges from Platinum Millennium Publications, which I did not sign up for. I dispute the charges with my card company, but cannot seem to cancel with them directly. I want a refund and for them to stop charging me monthly.” 

This was the gist of many complaints. Aspiring writers had no idea that if they signed up for a course, you’re automatically billed per month until YOU stop it.

Another complaint this year on the BBB? “I'd never heard of this company Platinum Millennial until I started noticing weird charges on my bank statements that I didn’t make…. When I tried to contact the number provided with the transaction, no one responded. I had to have my debit card shut down due to fraudulent activities.” 

Platinum Millennium's monthly fees or the monthly membership amount of $67.73 is added because the customer has to watch a video that shares the terms of the membership (!?), and it could be cancelled at any time…”

So, fraud? Or trickery?

Because of this kind of common sketch activity, we should ALL be checking the fine print and finishing those annoying videos that don't spell out the terms of what you're getting yourself into until the very end. Oh, and check your bank statements every damn month. Because a lot of these publishing companies will automatically bill you, and YOU are the one responsible for unsubscribing. 

Suddenly those emails from Nigerian princes are looking pretty good, aren't they? (Hopefully, everyone knows this by now: No, do not have a Nigerian relative named Wajibi who left you 50 million dollars in his will, and who will put that money in your account if you give them your banking details.)

And if you ever hear the name John Smith? Hang the fuck up! If your "bank" calls and says they see an unauthorized charge, and can you "confirm" your account number? Hang. The fuck. Up.

I even got a scam call that my daughter was in jail, and that I needed to wire money immediately to bail her out…which was weird since I was texting her at that very moment.

So, I exploded, “FUCK YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” and immediately blocked the number. (It's always a good idea to block a scammer's number.)

Sometimes, I'll pick up 1-833- numbers only to hear silence. After three seconds, realizing I'm not winning my 48th free cruise this year — I hang up. Who knows what kind of data they are collecting on my phone, the longer I listen to silence. Yeah, I’m super paranoid. As I should be. And you should be.

A few months ago, I went to check on my bank account and my heart sank when I saw that someone had booked four plane tickets — two on WestJet and two on Air Canada — using money they had somehow stolen from my account.

Scammers are not only smart but they are entitled little shits, too. I mean, really, did they need four business class plane tickets on my dime? (Which was really more like $17,000.) Economy wasn’t good enough for these thieves? What kind of world do we live in?

I raced to my bank. While I was a sobbing hot mess, the dude helping me was so calm, so cool, and so collected — “Yup. This looks like a fraud. We’ll file a report” — that I almost asked him if he kept the good stuff behind the counter.

“Am...I…ever…going...to…get...that…money…back?” I sobbed, to which he responded, “Yes, but it may take a while.”

My story had a happy ending. The money was put back into my account, and I only hope that whoever booked those plane tickets get caught and charged had the most awful time in California, and also that they got a STI. I hope the same for people like David Steel or James Michael.

Authors, please do your research and read the fine print. In the world of publishing, if someone is promising you anything, well, buyer beware! You should not be paying 100k to publish a book. Really! 

I took a look at the “contract" of my scammed author, who you can read about here. It was immediately apparent that it was not so much a contract but an invoice. Or, ironically, it was a “hybrid” invoice/contract. 

They spelled her name wrong. And they demanded, on top of the $2,000 she gave them, she would have to purchase at least 50 books from her own pocket. Price to be determined later, but in US dollars. Oh, and the $2,000 she paid them —by e-transfer — went to a personal account and not a business account, which, if you trust a person, why wouldn’t you do this?

I went to this self-publishing company's site, and it’s clear they have no fucking clue what they’re doing. I attempted to sign up for their “newsletter" but was met with a broken link. I emailed them about the broken link….and am still waiting for an answer.

Usually, if it sounds too good to be true — my Nigerian uncle left me 50 million dollars? If I give you $2,000, you'll deposit $50,000 into my account? It will be easy to sell 80,000 books? — it doesn’t have a happy ending.

xo

Rebecca (You can still send me $29.95, but this is not a scam!)