I love being generous with my readers. I run lots of paperback giveaways in my newsletter and enjoy sharing free ebooks from my author friends.
However, I learned a hard lesson a while back that social media giveaways are not always a good idea.
Here’s why.
When I was hosting a giveaway for my last book release on my Facebook author page, a scammer:
- Copied my profile picture
- Set up a fake Meghann Whistler page
- Started replying to the comments on my giveaway post AS IF THEY WERE ME, informing people they had “won” and asking them to provide their BANKING INFO in order to claim their prize
Here’s a conversation I had with one reader who was fooled (edited to remove the reader’s name):
A few days later, she sent me an update:
Now, on the rare occasion that I do share a giveaway on social media, it is always one that is hosted off Facebook, usually through a service like Rafflecopter or KingSumo. I also always include a disclaimer in my post that reads: “This giveaway is not affiliated with Facebook. I am not running it and will not announce the winners on this page. If anyone contacts you and then asks for financial info, it’s a scam!”
It’s sad that I have to make that statement, but I want to be absolutely certain that my readers know what’s what.
Readers Aren’t the Only Ones Who Get Scammed
Authors, too, are the target of many different kinds of scams. There are fake publishers, fake movie studios and fake marketing firms out there that are all looking to score a payday from naïve new authors.
Some author scams are even worse than that. In 2021, Time Magazine ran an article titled, “How Extortion Scams and Review Bombing Trolls Turned Goodreads Into Many Authors’ Worst Nightmare.”
Yep, there really are people out there who will threaten to inundate an author’s Goodreads account with swarms of one-star ratings and reviews unless the author pays them not to.
Of course, some scammers in the review ecosystem aren’t even looking for a payday. They just enjoy stirring up trouble.
Case in point? The debut author who lost a two-book contract with a big-deal traditional publishing house after it came to light that she’d created fake Goodreads profiles and used them to attack other authors’ work!
It’s sad, but we live in a fallen world, and this kind of scamming is part and parcel of that.
All of this is to say, be vigilant! Social media can be fun, but it can also be dangerous—even for those of us who generally only encounter danger between the pages of a book.
For a chance to win one of the Birthday Bash prize bundles, tell me: Do you spend time on social media? How do you keep yourself safe from scammers?
Milica says
I mostly spend time on Twitter out of “classic” social media (otherwise it would be Goodreads or Storygraph), I avoid everything else. On there it’s pretty easy to spot who’s a bot/scammer, they don’t even try to hide it :’)
But for example, when I win a giveaway I make sure it’s the author’ s official account messaging me, and if they ever asked for banking info (luckily hasn’t happened) I know not to give it to them, or to click on any suspicious links etc.
A few times we got scammed for clothes though. Back when I was in elementary school there were some websites importing dresses from China, and while some stuff we paid for arrived, there was a dress that never did :( Similarly, once I ordered a shirt from the US and there were no updates at all, they didn’t ship it to me but yet did to others…Sometimes I think it’s because I’m international and they didn’t want to bother, but that’s 25 dollars I’ll never get back :(
Ausjenny says
I am on SM but mostly FB and I did fall for a scam a couple years back it was the beginning of Jan and warm and the was in my feed. I needed new sandals and they were what I was looking for. I even did a little checking. Turns out they came from china not Australia I knew they had velco but instead of the colour of the shoe it was white and showed. Thankfully thanks to paypal I did get my money back but I am even more careful now.
I have seen scams like the one you mentioned with fake pages, if I know the person will contact them and I also report the scam to fb it can take a bit to get it taken down and normally needs a few reports.
It idea of an author creating fake accounts to attack other authors is disgusting. Thankfully places like amazon tend to weed out fake reviews.
Lori R says
I do spend time on social media but not as much as I used to spend. Ironically my news channel is talking about scams as I am writing this. I was shocked to hear what an author had done with fake accounts. We all need to be careful with the information e give out.
Meghann Whistler says
It’s really smart to check and make sure it’s the author’s real account messaging you, Milica, and I’m glad nobody has tried to get banking info from you!
Sorry to hear you lost money on the clothes!
Meghann Whistler says
I’m glad you were able to get your money back on the sandals, Jenny! And THANK YOU for reporting the scams you see to Facebook! It takes a village!!!
Meghann Whistler says
Oh, how funny that it’s on the news right now, Lori! I’m glad you’re careful about giving out your information. It’s true — we really do have to be vigilant these days!!!
Renate says
Hi Meghann! Thanks for the informative post. I have been diligent ever since my mom got scammed in the late 1990s. Yes, scammers were prevalent then. They used the phone book to call homes with sweepstakes and made them sound legit. My mom gave her credit card number and was scammed of $3,000. Fortunately the bank got the money back. Since we then at the World Wide Web, I researched the scam, which originated in the Bahamas and the bank was in Great Britain. This scammer didn’t give up. One day I was at my mom’s house and the scammer called saying they were her bank. I played dumb and asked what businesses are at the bank’s corner. The caller couldn’t answer, he just kept repeating the bank’s name. I knew the bank manager and I reported the scam, so the bank sent out emails and notices with their next billing.
Another way my mom was scammed was through fund raisers through the mail. She send checks for everyone who sent a gift. So I had all the mail forwarded to my house and with my dad’s permission took over their finances. Many of the USA companies were using the same Maryland post office to mail in contributions. Since they supplied prepaid envelopes, I would put their letters back in and mailed them back. Making them pay double postage on their junk mail. I even reported them to my post master. It took years to get off these mailing lists. This was 2000 – scammers NOW are more brazen and sneaky. So I am extremely careful. I also was aware of fake Amazon & Goodread profiles to attack authors. Hubby and I are amazed the energy of wicked people. What could they accomplish if they used their creativity for good!
Lilly says
Yes, for issues like this I do not share personal information on social networks, or where I live, or photos of my family or anything… I upload things that I like but interests, not things about me.
In Chile a few years ago there was a scandal where some university boys used the Instagram photos of several girls to classify them by appearance, bet on who they wanted to sleep with, and then drug them and there are cases where kidnappers use “where I am right now” updates to know when to kidnap their victim.
kim hansen says
I think almost author doesn’t matter where they post on social media has to warn there followers when they do a giveaway that they will never ask for personal info. Since covid it’s gotten a lot worse.
Meghann Whistler says
Oh, your poor mom! I’m glad the bank managed to get her money back! That’s terrible! Good for you for reporting all those scams!
Meghann Whistler says
Oh, how awful! I’ve heard about people getting robbed because of location tracking, but drugged and kidnapped is even worse! 😓😓😓
Meghann Whistler says
I agree that it’s always good to remind people that they should never disclose banking info to anyone on social media!
Jessica B. says
I’m not on social media but I used my mom’s Facebook Marketplace account to try to sell something a few weeks ago and got lots of scam responses.
Becky Nelson says
I joined social media to keep track of my friends and family, (we are spread allover). I pray for the hackers that they would come to know our Lord and his saving grace and that they would be convicted that what they are doing is wrong. I feel that this is the best way to deal with them., since I don’t want to give access to my friends and family.
Betty Armstrong says
Thanks for the heads-up, Meghann! The only social media outlet I use is Facebook, and that is only so I can keep in touch with extended family members and favorite authors. ;) I rarely post anything on my own page.
I’m always very careful not to give out personal information (especially bank information) over the phone. If I order something online, I do not use my credit card unless I know for sure that I am dealing with a reputable company.
When my oldest son was a senior in high school (back in 2015) he did some freelance writing jobs, including “ghost writing” several children’s books which were published on Amazon. Most were adventure stories, but one was a guide for playing Minecraft which was a bestseller for a short time! One of the “pen names” that he contracted for was attacked by trolls who left one-star reviews for a couple books my son wrote, claiming inappropriate content among other things. As my son’s proofreader/editor, I knew those claims were untrue! (Not to mention I had bought and read my own copy!) Since my son was paid a flat fee for his work (not based on sales), he was not directly affected, but it was still hurtful.
To end on a lighter note, many years ago, I wanted to get the comedy TV series Get Smart on VHS for my husband for Christmas. It was a favorite of both our families when we were growing up and we wanted to share it with our children. The series had been released on VHS earlier, but was unavailable through Amazon at that time, so I looked very carefully through the options on ebay and ordered one that had all the appearances of being legit. When the tapes arrived, we were all excited to start watching them, but it turned out that, though the packaging looked legit, they were poor quality copies pirated off of TV. The station ID was in the bottom corner, and the first “episode” was even from a different series! My husband contacted the seller, hoping to resolve the issue directly. The response started out, “I am sorry for any incontinence I have caused you…” ;) We ended up contacting our credit card company, which refunded our money, and we destroyed the tapes. A couple years later, the series was released on DVD and we were finally able to get it. :)
Trudy says
The only social media outlet I’m on much is FB, and I’m careful what I do and don’t click on there. I know if someone needs me to give them money, I don’t need to give them money or banking info, or any type of personal info to prove it’s me. Just like on phone calls. If you’re really calling me from a company I already do business with, you already have my info, and if you ask for more, I know you aren’t calling from that business, so I just hang up.
Trudy says
Well, while I was typing, I received a text supposedly from my credit union. However, my credit union doesn’t send out texts like that and they’ve posted a warning about them on their website. That text just got deleted!
Kathleen Mattingly says
I’m on FB and Instagram, but I don’t trust anybody anymore. There are too many scammers on and about everything. I also use PayPal to pay for anything online that I buy.
Elizabeth Litton says
I don’t post much on social media, but I enjoy looking at other people’s posts. If someone asks me for money or any personal information, then I don’t respond but report it instead.
Alicia Haney says
Good morning, and yes way too many scammers out there. I spend some time on social media but am always careful too too many scammers, so sad of what this world is coming to with all these evil people that turn good things bad. We always have to be vigilant in whatever we do. So sad all this is going on and has been for awhile.
Angeline says
I spend time on social media but I try to be very diligent. I just don’t respond to messages that seem unsafe and I block them. But I know that for some people it can be very easy to fall for scams.
Cyndi says
So sad! As you said we live in a fallen world and have to be vigilant!
Matthew 10:16 reminds us, “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Social media is definitely one place to be wary. Thankfully we have the Lord to assist us with this.
Thanks for sharing!
Meghann Whistler says
Yikes!!!
Meghann Whistler says
Prayer is powerful! 🙏
Meghann Whistler says
I’m sorry your son’s Minecraft guide got attacked by trolls, but glad he wasn’t directly affected. Boo!!!
Glad you got a refund on those bogus VHS tapes, too! I remember watched old epiosdes of Get Smart on Nick at Night when I was on summer vacation as a kid :)
Meghann Whistler says
I delete so many text messages and voicemails these days! I’m glad you didn’t get fooled, Trudy!!!
Meghann Whistler says
That’s smart, Kathleen!
Meghann Whistler says
That’s a good approach, Elizabeth!
Meghann Whistler says
Vigilance is key, for sure!
Meghann Whistler says
I’m glad you take precautions, Angeline! I once almost got fooled by someone who pretended to be a friend of mine via email. Fortunately, I reached out to my real friend who assured me that she was not, in fact, stuck in a foreign country and in desperate need of a money wire…
Meghann Whistler says
Ooh, love that verse, Cyndi! 🙏
Priscila Perales says
I do, both on FB and IG. It’s never happened to me, but I’ve seen it done to others. I’d report it and block the person.
Ausjenny says
Renate I have seen a few reviewers that I suspect are authors who will write a bad review mainly 3 star for a rival. It was one of these reviews that made me buy a book because they said what happened couldn’t. talking about a widower finding love again said no way would they fall so quick. Turns out it was around 5 years. a few other things the reviewer said were so laughable when reading the book. It was clear they had a vendetta because every other review by this person was 5 stars and they only reviews one group of books by a few authors. If the idea was to stop people buying the book it backfired. it also means I dismiss any review this person would write. (ironically almost all books were arc’s)
Ausjenny says
Thanks I was glad too. I recently almost fell for a phone scam. The reason was we had work on the phone lines for the internet and a couple days later I had a call saying there was an issue. it wasn’t the same start as other scams and it was very believable. I didn’t know my download and upload speeds. if I did I would have picked it up way earlier. and the fact work was done on the lines. I did the speed test which showed slow they said it was it was my actual speed I pay for. he passed me to another person to help with something and he said a higher speed. and then wanted me to go to a website and soon as I did it had a do you want to download and thanks to so much watching spammer payback I was no. I hung up and rang telstra my provider and yep it was a scam. the work number was fake. Thankfully I didn’t download the access to my computer. I am fairly sceptical but this one almost got me cos of the change of tactics. I then put a warning on the local notice board on fb to alert people. Most are so easy (solar panels, ebay, paypal and the latest the we are from mastercard/visa who are two different companies and wouldn’t ring you your bank would contact you totally confused the guy this week saying I dont have one he said you have a debit card and I said no don’t have any cards) there is always the gap before they speak and they let the phone ring out this is landline. but this one there was no gap and it was so different.
RuthieH says
That’s awful that people do things like this :-(
I don’t really use social media but I’ve had scam emails – most are very unconvincing but some are very realistic, you do have to be so careful now.
Denise Turner says
I spend some time on social media but limit myself in how much time. Keeping safe from scammers is always a battle and takes work and awareness. Checking email addresses before opening emails to see if there is anything unusual, looking before opening attachments, and so many other things are important and even with all that there is not guarantee that you catch everything.
Happy Birthday, Inspyromance!
Bonnie Heringer says
I spend way to much time on social media, mostly FB. I do not give out bank information and try to be so very careful of what I click on. Some stuff is so obvious that it is a scam. Some stuff looks so legit. It is sad that you can’t hardly trust anyone anymore.
Shelia Hall says
I do spend time on social media and I enter a lot of contest. have learned if someone comments/messages me that I have won something and then ask for a bank number that it is a scammer and I report it.
Meghann Whistler says
That’s so sneaky! I pretty much never pick up a phone call unless I know the caller. I’m glad you figured it out before you downloaded the spyware!
Meghann Whistler says
😓😓😓
Meghann Whistler says
I’m glad it’s never happened to you, Priscila!
Meghann Whistler says
I was almost fooled by a scam email a few years ago, Ruthie, and I agree! Some can be very realistic!
Meghann Whistler says
Checking email addresses is a great tip, Denise! Thank you :)
Meghann Whistler says
I agree, Bonnie — very sad! 😓
Meghann Whistler says
Thank you for reporting the scammers, Shelia! Hopefully FB will start doing a better job of kicking them off the platform for good!
Debra Pruss says
Yes, I am on Facebook. I am careful to only connect with those who I know. Sometimes, I will get request for duplicate people to friend. I contact the person to ask if they closed their account. If not, there is a scammer trying to be them. I see this more and more. It has happened to me a few times. It is really sad. Thank you so much for sharing. I love your emails. God bless you.
Meghann Whistler says
I get those duplicate friend requests a lot, too, Debra! So annoying that scammers can clone people’s pages so easily! 😠
And thank YOU! I’m glad you enjoy my emails! 💕
Joannie Sico says
I’m not on social media a lot but I’ve always been very cautious about the Internet and people with fraud & scams. I don’t even like to accept friend requests if I don’t know the person. I’m very careful what I click on or share too because scammers get you that way too sometimes.
bn100 says
not really
Marti says
I have almost nothing to do with social media. There’s a few channels on YouTube that I watch regularly. And I keep in touch with friends by email, or a private group chat. No Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
The worst scams I’ve dealt with were phone calls. The best way I found to deal with that is to hang up. Though there was one really bad scam that was going around a lot a few months ago. I figured that the longer I was on the phone, the less time that they could bother another person. And I had a way to have some fun, without giving away any information. I’m not fluent in German, but I can fool people who don’t know me. The longest I was on the phone was probably about 15 minutes, the woman guessed that I was speaking Russian.🧐🤭
Diana Hardt says
Back in 2011, I had my Facebook account hacked into. I still don’t know how they were able to. I found out through a relative who got a strange message from my account and knew it wasn’t me. She notified me about it. I found through my e-mail account that the person was trying to reset my Facebook password but was unsuccessful. I got super lucky and was able to reset my Facebook password myself. In fact, I reset it more than once just in case. Fortunately, I was able to get my Facebook account back.
Meghann Whistler says
Not accepting friend requests from people you don’t know is a great policy, Joannie!
Meghann Whistler says
The less you’re on social media, the less likely you are to fall for a social media scam!
Meghann Whistler says
I virtually never answer a phone call unless I know the caller. That’s absolutely hilarious that the caller stayed on the line for 15 minutes when she couldn’t understand you!!!
Meghann Whistler says
Yikes, Diana!!! Glad you were able to take back control of your account before too much damage was done!
Dianne K says
I never provide bank information on the internet at all. I only use PayPal which is why amazon isn’t available for me to purchase from.
I am very careful about providing personal information to anyone and I must admit to playing with phone scammers, I respond that’s interesting to everything they say until they lose patience and say why and then I tell them well I don’t have a mastercard or whatever it is they are scamming and they hang up really quickly. On facebook there are many scammers or worse there are middle aged men’s profiles who want to be my friend, they seem to especially target CCR or clean authors pages, just gives me the creeps.
I did enjoy your competitions at Christmas time though and it was great fun and a scam free zone thankfully!
Cindi Knowles says
I got scammed and lost my Twitter account, can’t even get Twitter to answer me so that I can get my account back from who hacked it. Luckily my bank believed me bcz they recognized the scam and didn’t close my account.
I just don’t talk to anyone that I don’t know now. My trust is way low right now.
Laurie Larsen says
I know another author who had an identical scam done on her FB giveaway post! And I was one of her commenters her scammer responded to with instructions of how to claim my prize! When they instructed me to leave her author page and search for her personal profile, a million alarm bells went off in my head! A legit author with thousands of followers would never willingly route that many people to her personal profile.
I didn’t do anything but the next time I reviewed my feed that author had discovered the scam and posted a heavy warning to everyone! It’s terrible!!
Marti says
Yep!
Natalya Lakhno says
WOW, you can never be too trusting nowadays!
Joannie Sico says
We always screen all of our calls for a while now too. Someone told us to be careful because there are some people who try to get into your computer while they have you on the phone. I think the most obvious scam was when I saw the number to my landline calling my landline since it’s physically impossible to do.
Nancy says
People can be heartless
Meghann Whistler says
Wow — that’s wild!!!
Meghann Whistler says
Oh, all those creepy men’s profiles are the WORST!!!
I’m glad you enjoyed the Christmas emails :)
Meghann Whistler says
I’m sorry you lost your Twitter account, Cindi. How frustrating!!!
Meghann Whistler says
I’m glad you weren’t fooled, Laurie! And I’m glad the author caught it and let people know what was going on!
Kendra Muonio says
Don’t have any social media platforms only have accounts to were I leave book reviews.
Lori Smanski says
oh goodness. I spend a little time on FB. If I have questions I go to my husband before I do anything. He is an IT person and knows a lot about these scammers. If neither of us are sure, I do nothing.
Meghann Whistler says
Seriously! 😔
Meghann Whistler says
They really can be 💔
Meghann Whistler says
You’re probably much safer that way, Kendra.
Meghann Whistler says
I’m glad your husband is able to help you filter through the scams :)
Wenonah says
ugh, scammers, they’re scum!! I’m on Facebook, but that’s beginning to take less of my time these days (all those books to read!!!). If it’s too good to be true, it probably is!! If it asks for money or info, DON’T. I have a relative that works investigating scammers, so if it’s something I or my husband haven’t seen before, we may run it by them and see what they say. So sad and sickening how many people have lost so much to those scum. Not only have they lost their money but they have lost their pride, security and trust as well.
Megan says
There’s so many scams out there now, it’s awful! I use social media a bit but try to be vigilant about what I share.
Meghann Whistler says
It’s neat that your relative’s job is investigating scammers!
Meghann Whistler says
It’s good to be cautious, for sure :)
Katrina Dehart says
I try to be aware if something is legit. Too much scamming going on
Allyson says
Yes, I spend time on social media, but I’m careful about getting scammed. If I don’t recognize the number that is texting me such as “your package got lost in the mail. Click here.” or somewhere along those lines, I delete and report it as junk.
I also implement 2FA on my social media accounts, PayPal, etc. to ensure that nobody gets access to my accounts. I don’t accept friend requests from those I don’t recognize.
Martha says
I am on social media and do enter some giveaways. I am careful about friend requests I receive and read comments and messages very carefully. If I see something that sounds funny or not what I would expect from an author I will check their profile or page and contact them that way if I have any questions or concerns.
Meghann Whistler says
I completely agree!
Meghann Whistler says
That’s smart, Allyson!
Meghann Whistler says
Good idea, Martha!