Click-bait Promoters

If you are a writer, an artist, or any other type of creator, you have seen it. You have had dozens, if not more, promoters message you about promoting your work. The line they give you is, “I love your work. I’d like to promote your work,” or “Our site has shortlisted you. We want to promote your book, essay, or poetry, etc.” Artists get the proverbial, “We want to showcase your work,” or “We would like to display your art on our site and get your art exposure and seen by many.”

This is right along the same lines as the “Send me this, send me that” bait many scammers use. However, it is a little different. These nefarious people bait you with a compliment and an over-the-top offer of fame and fortune. When you respond, they hit you with “There is a small fee.”

This is a scam. It targets the “starving” artist or writer and offers what they so desperately seek. Notoriety. Should you show even a small amount of interest, the messages will continue indefinitely. When you file a report on your social media, they will respond, "There has been no violation of community standards." If you report it as harassment, the same applies. There is nothing social media will do to protect you, so I will tell you a couple of ways to deal with this problem, because there is no end to scammers’ creativity or illicit behavior.

I know many of us are hoping to succeed and make progress in our craft. You are not alone. I am right there with you, but being scammed by someone who promises you the moon and stars, only to disappear with your money, will not encourage you to continue your work.

First and foremost, the people conducting these scams will contact you via direct messaging. These messages will come from an unknown source, not from your friends list.

It or they will appear to be a legitimate company or entity in the field of work your creativity engages in. That is where the validity of their claims and offers ends.

This type of scam and scammer are designed to keep you at ease. Once they have you engaged, they tell you about the small fees. It won’t be disclosed right away. They will try to establish a quick dialogue and get you comfortable with their benevolence. The person will tell you about the many people they have helped, point to their followers, and might even tell you to ask their other patrons about their experience. All of that is fake and created to lend the scam legitimacy.

Their clients, former and present, and their followers are manufactured for this purpose. Their list of followers may include creative people following them to watch their traffic, but the majority are created for this purpose. Often, the entity will have thousands of followers. This gives you a false sense of security. After all, if that many people follow them and use them, they must have the inside scoop on how to get your work in front of the right people. Again, it’s all created for that purpose. Buyer security and product confidence. Don’t fall for it.

I know how easy it is for those who want their craft appreciated and a wide audience to believe the lie. I have been there and almost fell for it. The only reason I don’t and haven’t is that I am pretty cynical about the golden-egg offers out there. I also understand the law of averages and statistics. In any sought-after career, there are many talented candidates, but only a few will ever win the prize. That is why it is important to love what you do. If you create for money’s sake, your road will be difficult and disappointing. If you create for yourself, just because you must express yourself, without considering financial gain, then you will be happy and are less likely to be heartbroken when and if you don’t get your fame. Keep in mind that most artists, of any kind, aren’t discovered until they pass away. I am not sure why that is true, but it seems to hold. Unfortunately.

What these promoters care about is money. They don’t care how they get it or who it hurts. It’s all about money they don’t have to work for, taken from the backs of people who do. The methods are similar to those of other scammers.

The celebrity impersonator and the “send me this, send me that” scammer are all the same. Money is the sole motivation behind their schemes. The stories and methods of manipulation may differ, but the basic function of those manipulations remains the same.

So how do you try to navigate these shark-infested waters? With wisdom and skepticism.

First, as soon as anyone compliments you, stop. Take a breath. Approach it as if you already know the person or entity is up to no good, because they are. I understand that this is not how we want to see people, but unfortunately, it is the world we live in, and the world of cybercrime.

As soon as you receive a message, and before you even say thank you or hello, click on their profiles. Once on their page, you will notice many red flags. Most platforms now, at the very least, show how old the account is. If it is very recent, or even within a couple of months of creation, you should block them and move on. This is especially true if you notice several thousand followers and clients listed. You must know that a large following and client list take a lot of time. Purveyors of art or literature don’t shoot for numbers. They err on the side of quality. Less is more.

Purveyors of the arts are highly selective, regardless of genre. Too good to be true is just that.

On sites like Instagram and Facebook, you should have noticed that when you click on a profile, it will also warn you if the profile has changed its profile and name more than once, and in what timeframe. I recently clicked on one of these offerers of the golden calf’s profile, and it clearly stated that the entity had changed its profile and name 24 times in the last 30 days. What do you think you should do at that point? You are correct to say “block them.” You should also report them.

You will not receive a report confirming that your findings are correct or that any action was taken against the perpetrator. You will receive the standard form email stating there has been no violation of community standards. They don’t care to stop the activity. The sole purpose of reporting these criminals is to establish a record of filings. With enough of them, they have to at least become aware that their failure to deal with the issues is hurting their honest and innocent patrons. I truly don’t know if they even care about that, either, but I will always hope that someone will have a brain and see it.

Please know that blocking one will not stop messaging from evildoers. They will change their name, appearance, and tactics and visit you again.

Yesterday, I was on Instagram checking my traffic when I received an offer to promote my book. It’s not my book, by the way; it’s an anthology that I happen to be included in. I post it to spread the word about the publisher and the other writers in the book. That doesn’t matter to them. They will market themselves as being in your corner and on your side.

I clicked on the entity's page, which looked like a legitimate firm, and immediately saw it had over 10,000 followers. The account was less than two months old. Then I saw the telltale sign of a scammer. The profile showed the tag, “This profile is new and has changed its name 24 times in the last 30 days.” I reported them and blocked the account as well.

Within an hour, the form letter from the platform arrived, disappointing me and proving once again that social media cares nothing about us. This account has not violated any community standards. It’s incredibly perplexing that an artistic rendering of a human body is deemed a violation of those standards, while the criminal scamming of humanity is not.

After that, I noticed I had more messages. I clicked the little arrow that takes me to my messages, and you will never guess what I saw. I saw the exact same profile picture, the exact same entity name with a minor difference, and over 10 of them had messaged me the same bait line about my book. If you didn’t look carefully, you might miss the comma, dot, or number added to the previous name, but it was there.

This is an example of how a grifter makes money. They play the numbers game. More profiles, more targets, more is more. The more they try, the higher the chance the scheme sticks.

This time, I reported them as harassment rather than spam, illegal scams, or any of the other categories they offer, which mean nothing. I figured harassment is a no-no on social media, or at least I hope it is.

I blocked every account, but not before checking each profile page. As I stated before, each page was brand new and had an astounding number of happy customers and followers. They all had tags for name changes or for multiple accounts with the same name.

I know how disappointing this all is. It breaks hearts and wastes time we could be using for our work. I just need to be at least one person who is looking out for us.

So, what happens if they get you? They will collect your small fees; they may come and ask for a little more for this or that, or they will completely disappear with your donation to their piggy bank. If they ask you to give them permission to transfer your money as they need for further promotions, they will rob you blind.

Do not ever give anyone permission to access anything or charge you for anything, in any financial format whatsoever. Never!

A curator, a publisher, a promoter, an agent, or a manager will never ask you for fees or money in advance of results. There will be contracts involved. These will not be handled on social media. Ever. They will not be handled online at all. You will need to be present with representation to ensure the protection of the parties’ interests throughout. Please don’t let yourselves be conned.

I know it is hard to ignore a good thing. Trust me on this. None of these people or their dangling carrots is a good thing. It is a con job, and you are the target. Be wise.

#scams #artists #writers #beware #wisdom #money

(Published on Substack)