It has come to our attention that some scammer(s) have been impersonating Detroit Bookfest team members, and sending fraudulent “Invitations” to participate in Detroit Bookfest. These scammer(s) are using various @gmail.com email addresses, but they are introducing some (intentional) typos in the Sender Name of these emails.
We DO have an active investigation with local Police authorities as well as the FBI — these scammers seem to be international. Rest assured, our internal systems have not been compromised, and we have not been hacked. As far as we can tell, any information that you’ve provided to us in the past is safe.
BEWARE the below email addresses!
Imposter Email Addresses:
- Ryan m Place [sic] <detroitbookfestival@gmail.com>
- Ryan M place [sic] <detroitbooksfestival@gmail.com>
- Sean Synder [sic] <sean.detroitbookfest@gmail.com>
If you engage with the above emails, you may receive messages from a fraudster soliciting payment via sketchy-looking international bank transfers.
If you “view images” on any of the above email addresses, you will activate a tracking pixel, leading to unsolicited emails from purported Amazon Book Agent offering to
Additional Fraud-Related Email Addresses:
- James. Emmanuel <james.emmanuel.agent@gmail.com> (sketchy payment details)
- Joshua Kell <joshaukell.expert@gmail.com> (claims to be an Amazon agent)
If you have received one of these messages, WE NEED YOUR HELP!
- DO NOT just simply delete it; We need it as evidence!
- Fill out a Contact Us form and select Fraud/Scam report.
- Wait for instructions from our Technical Operations Manager for saving that email with FULL email headers intact.
- Do not just forward the email – that strips out the info we need.
- These ~100 lines of highly-technical gobbledy-gook contain essential information for tracking the origin of these messages.
- Follow instructions provided to save the off the email, with full headers, as a .eml file, and send it to us so we can share with the detective we are working with.
Always Remember:
Real Detroit Bookfest emails will ALWAYS end with @detroitbookfest.com
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