Scam Alert: Amazon Sues Fake Publishing Scams

As unfortunate as it may be, scams are a reality in the publishing world. To help you identify new entities seeking to defraud authors, we include scam alerts in our newsletter. You can refer to our previous scam alerts for more information.

Recently, Amazon filed a lawsuit on October 30th in the Northern District of California against 20 individuals and companies who falsely claim to be affiliated with Amazon, Amazon Publishing, and Kindle Direct Publishing. These fraudsters target authors using websites with misleading names and URLs that replicate the look and feel of Amazon services. Victims believe they are working with Amazon and end up paying “substantial sums of money, often thousands of dollars, for grossly inadequate or non-existent services.”

The Authors Guild  has previously warned our newsletter subscribers about scammers impersonating Amazon Publishing and Amazon Studios. We urge all authors to be vigilant and verify the authenticity of web and email domains before engaging in any transactions. If you have any doubts about any communications you have received, it is always best to reach out directly to verify their legitimacy.

If you have encountered or done business with a publishing scam, please email us at staff@authorsguild.org. We will assist and inform our members to avoid such scams in the future. To become a member or learn more Visit:  

Photo courtesy of AG

This article was updated by Anita Johnson-Brown, Member of the Authors Guild.

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