Some pieces I write to simply eject content off the hamster wheel in my brain that keeps me up at night. I realize processing the information eventually fosters a new perspective. However, the contents of certain events that make little sense churn over and over in my gray matter showing no attempts to find a way out.

My trusty outlet for clawing out of a mind-sickening ditch is to write it out. Once it's out, the distance preserves my sanity and infuses some sense into a nonsensical situation. This is one of the drivers of why I write. I need to write, especially when something disturbing happens like it did recently.

First of all, I was minding my own business. It's important to note that at the beginning of any predator-prey ensemble piece.

The set up: Trust must be earned and repeatedly monitored

I don't immediately trust anyone because of what I've experienced while freelancing and generating opportunities to move my writing career forward. I've been stiffed, ghosted and punked in ways I never faced in the 9-to-5 world.

Due diligence is my thing when fighting the onslaught of spammer-scammers whose intent is to harm. They come in every form: email, phone calls, snail mail, LinkedIn messages, website attackers, unwanted followers, and garden variety trolls that lurk under bridges.

This time was different, which included multiple conversations with two separate men, and two "official" legal documents on "official" letter head — definitely new territory.

Due to previous cyber-calamities, my online security is souped-up to deflect Black Hats at my back door and the trojan malware they ride in on. My BS detector, that I've written about, resides inside of me and is cleaned, maintained and calibrated on a regular. I was not born yesterday nor have I fallen off of any turnip trucks. "Pushover" has never been used to describe me. But here I am telling my tale.

Blatant book plugs aside, I wrote a book titled, "Required Reading for The Whole Cancer Thing. An Insider's Tale Plus 101 Must-Have Tips." It's a serious yet humor-filled book that chronicles my journey through cancer diagnosis, surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, and was self-published in 2015.

As far as my recent marketing efforts go, I've stepped back from it. Frankly, I'm sick of being in the mental space of cancer. It's ruined a lot of things in my life that show no signs of permanently resolving. But the book is still available on Amazon (Okay, that was kind of a plug).

So, when someone contacted me via email showing interest in the book, my ears perked.

The more marketing efforts I make for various products and services, the more I realize marketing falls into two camps: marketing with integrity and honesty and ethics; and malevolent marketing which includes overt actions aimed at doing evil to others.

The latter sews discord and antagonistic responses that send trolls rolling down the hill to gather more toxic moss to destroy things. It's the worst kind of attention, yet people seek it to sell something or gather your data for funneling toward an ever-hungry algorithm.

My recent mess started with an email that I initially ignored.

There's no shortage of emails and phone calls from pay-to-play idiots wanting to help market my books. This one was different. After a week I opened it to vet the offer. This person, Jim (leaving out his last name) from a very prestigious literary agency in New York City wants to discuss my book and the possibility of representing me.

He advised that a book review company (I'm not giving the name) recommended my book to him and he would like to set up a time to discuss the possibility of working together. The signature block at the bottom included his photo, which coincided with the one on their website. His phone number included the correct area code for the location. It checked all the initial boxes for me to at least respond.

I'm still skeptical, but what do I have to lose?

After a back-and-forth we set up a time to chat on the following Thursday. He would call me sometime between 12:00 and 1:00 California time where I live. Great! Again, nothing to lose.

He stood me up. Making matters worse, I got a $70 parking ticket because the delay carried me into a parking violation on the street where I parked. That was that. No call. No show. Big pet peeve. No points for professionalism, and believe me I'm keeping track.

What do you know, he contacted me on the following Monday to profusely apologize and set up another time to talk. We did. Once we connected, he went on…

Humbly speaking, he raved about the book and what I shared with the world. Although my book had already been self-published, he wanted to pitch it to traditional publishers, in fact the Big Five: Penguin Random House; Hachette Book Group; Harper Collins; Macmillan Publishers; Simon & Schuster. The intent would be to republish the book aiming for a wider, international audience.

I said, "I'm in."

As you can image, these were words I wished to hear for years from someone other than me and my small but mighty group of cancer pals and other readers.

The point I want to make here is that I wanted to believe. I told myself that maybe this whole thing wasn't a waste of time. Maybe he sees something special in the book other than just an agent fee. Perhaps it was going to reach the people who would benefit most from reading it. After all, cancer is international. And with some marketing umph the book could take off.

It was okay to feel guardedly optimistic, heavy on the guarded. I've been screwed so many times. But it felt okay to imagine. However, I self-imposed a retractable leash around my feelings that prevented me from falling off the cliff of hope into the abyss. I continually fight to prevent that fall, which is exhausting and painful. It also dulls my senses for other types of joy — big problem.

He said he wanted to shop the book around and see what comes of it. I still didn't trust what was happening. Me, practicing the, "ABC's, Always Be Closing" of sales, I told him about the children's book that I wrote titled, "Takota's Dream." He wanted to see it too. I mentioned to him I could send a copy of both books to serve as a visual representation in addition to the digital copies.

The next day I received a boilerplate representation agreement printed on the literary agency's letter head. There was nothing weird or alarming. The standard fee percentages that a literary agent would receive were noted. My experience and study of the law provide me enough knowledge to identify if something stinks and when I must refer to an attorney.

Once the agreement was signed I emailed the manuscripts and all the copyrighted artwork.

A couple of days later I prepared a package that included the books and a cover letter and a handwritten thank you note. I included the words, "Client" on the cover letter and on the outside of the envelope so it wouldn't get lost in the shuffle at the literary agency.

Side note: My screenwriting instructor, Neil Landau taught me to always include a "charming note," AKA a thank you note to anyone you cross paths with while creating contacts and networking for future writing assignments. It sets you apart, even if just a little, from the mass of mail an office or person receives. This little bit of extra care is what saved me. Thank you, Neil!

My charming note included thanks for seeing something special in my cancer book. I looked forward to joining the team at the agency, and to the book reaching so many more people in need of help during their cancer journey. I suggested that the copy of my children's book, "Takota's Dream" be donated to a day care, church, or school library once they no longer needed it. Off the package went to the address listed on the agency's website.

I let myself believe that, at minimum, I knew what it felt like to have a conversation with an agent and sign an representation agreement. Rejection was not being placed upon my already-full plate.

Wow! Within a week I received a call from a man named Craig from one of the Big Five publishers. I looked him up. Legit. Website. LinkedIn. Google. From What I could vet, he was who he said he was. Why would he lie? We set up a time to talk.

He interviewed me. He complimented the book. He complimented me and my intentions for the book. We discussed the marketing efforts I had done thus far which included:

• Multiple Amazon ad campaigns
• Speaking at cancer events
• Getting my cancer support group to read and comment on the book
• Donating copies to the cancer center's library, which were all stolen (a positive thing)
• Paying for ads on a successful author's website who ironically is represented by the same agency now "representing" me
• Being part of a college pre-med program that helps seniors intent on being oncologists learn what cancer patients really go through
• Volunteering for a peer-to-peer counseling program that matches a newly diagnosed patient with a peer who has had the same cancer to offer support.
• A gorilla marketing campaign where I asked 25 people to read the book and then "accidentally" leave it in their doctor's waiting room and take a photo of it to be posted online. I called it the, "Do Drop In" campaign and each of my participants were my Do Drops. It was gaining traction and we were having fun until the pandemic hit and all materials in doctor's offices were wiped out from ever being seen by patients. After this, I pretty much gave up marketing the book.

I told him that my marketing efforts were 100% financially dependent upon me, and thus were not as robust as they could have been. He assured me there would be someone working with me on these efforts.

Then came the mention of money. He advised the advances given to clients for the 2025 season were slated to be from $83K to $223K depending on the acquisition agreement. He asked me if that was acceptable. Duh!

He advised that the final step involved was proposing my book to the Board of Directors at their regular meeting for new acquisitions. He would get back to me within a few days, and definitely not longer than a month. There was one final question: he asked me if I wanted my book published by this Big Five publisher. I said, "Yes, I would be honored and thankful." He ended our conversation by saying he was going to buy a copy of the book, and thanked me for being so professional.

The call ended, and I smiled.

Was this really happening? I felt numb at best, very little excitement. My lack of excitement took me back a bit. But then I've been emotionally shut down for awhile when it comes to these things, so I didn't question it too much.

Within a few days I received an acquisition agreement on the publisher's letterhead. It included congratulations and directions to set up an interview with this guy to demonstrate additional marketing credibility for the book. He reportedly charges for the interview, sometimes $2000 according to the research I conducted.

The guy was pretty cheesy in the videos I viewed. It definitely wasn't the quality I wanted, and I questioned why anyone would. This was the first hint of something wonky going on that may require a monetary exchange. This weird, low quality YouTube "genius" was definitely not worth the fee. There was no way that a Big Five publisher would recommend or admire this type of source.

It was really confusing. I needed time to think. Even discussing it with my partner didn't seem to move the needle toward clarity.

Imagining the freedom of getting out of cancer medical debt prison, that continues to follow me all these years later, was seductive. My little voice expressed concern that it was not a prison release, but rather only a work furlough program where at the end of the day you return to your jail cell. From the beginning, my first goal was to write the book and use the proceeds to pay off my medical bills. It hasn't worked out that way. The debt has only grown. It's true: cancer is a giver.

Still, I wouldn't allow myself to fully feel or believe what was happening. But part of me thought, what if it was?…

…But it wasn't.

The day after I received the acquisition letter I received an email. The title read, "Jim [last name] Impersonator…"

I clicked into the reality that read,

Dear Anne,

I'm writing from [Agency]. We received your package and letters in the mail today and I'm so sorry to let you know that you have been the victim of a scammer impersonating Jim [last name].

A number of writers have been victims of this scam and we have alerted authorities. He is also impersonating a number of other literary agents.

Please see the security notice on our website. All agency communications come from the domain name:______

All best, Christopher

Office of Jim [last name]

There it was.

I responded to Christopher, the real Jim's Assistant to thank him. I walked out of my office to get some air as a cascade of feelings overwhelmed me. If Jim was fake, was Craig too?

Knowing the truth of this scam, I sent a test email to the Craig at the Publisher saying I wasn't happy with the quality of the interview service he was suggesting due to the reputation of this pay-and-play service. I said I would contact a couple people I knew who have podcasts to see if I could get an interview.

There were two reasons for taking this action: one, if their endgame was for me to pay for this low quality interview so the two imposters would get a kickback; and two, I was buying time to string these two fraudsters along so the authorities could stop them. I was willing to help gather evidence.

Due to my level of upset, the next day I decided to call Christopher, Jim's real assistant to discuss the situation. I needed to chat and we had a great conversation, which helped us both feel better even though we were dumbfounded by some people's motives and actions. He advised that there was a person who had previously been in the publishing industry who had been caught doing these things, but his sentence had been suspended.

Yes, I was catfished, but the Real Jim at the literary agency and Real Craig at the Big Five publisher were being impersonated. Documents were being sent out on their, although fake, business letterhead signed by them. These frauds were speaking at length to people on the phone, in "official" communications, and causing damage to writers who are just trying to make their way. These are serious threats.

Christopher gave me a link to reporting to the FBI, and said he would contact the Real Craig at the Big Five publisher to let him know. The Real Craig is not involved in acquisitions at all at the publisher. Therefore, Craig officially became, Fake Craig the Fake Publisher.

I, in turn contacted the real Big Five publisher and they gave me the contact info for their legal department that deals with fraud. They contacted me, gave me links to the FBI, the State Attorney General, and the FTC to file a complaint, which I did. See below for the appropriate links.

The legal department asked for the emails I received from Fake Craig to investigate the IP addresses. The emails were coming from a region in France, and then bounced through South Korea, Singapore and the Philippines.

Why would these people do this? Everyone asks that.

According to the charity, BulliesOut.com,

Catfishing is a deceptive activity when someone uses images and information to create a new fake identity online — sometimes using an individuals' entire identity as their own — to trick people who are seeking friends or a romantic partner online.

The psychological motives of people who choose to catfish include:

Poor self-esteem, depression or anxiety, to hide their identity, targeted revenge, targeted harassment, or to explore their sexuality.

Targeted revenge is defined as:

Some people may use catfishing as a means of revenge on a previous partner or associate. They do this to try and damage a person's reputation or to humiliate them. They may also use the false identity to entice a person into a fake relationship to hurt them emotionally.

In my situation, my best guess would be targeted revenge as the possible motive. Not revenge on me, but for the Real Jim and the Real Craig or the publishing industry in general.

After the truth had been revealed about the scam, I received a phone call and email from Fake Craig. He was ok with going to my contacts for an interview. He called again. I didn't return the call. He called again. Enough was enough.

I asked the legal department at the publisher for a suggestion of what to do. They advised me to discontinue contact. There was little to no chance that I would ever catch these people, especially if they were in another country. I'm certain they would be onto the next person as soon as possible. So I sent individualized emails to Fake Jim and Fake Craig that read:

"Jim"

Unfortunately, I have been advised of a severe security breach and will no longer be communicating with you. The legal department managing fraud at the real [literary agency] in New York contacted me on behalf of the real Jim [last name] to advise me that you are fraudulently impersonating the real Mr. [last name].

This e-mail shall serve as a cease and desist communication to you regarding any further communication with me. All agreements and discussions that previously took place from 10/16/24 to 11/24/24 are considered null and void. Should my intellectual properties be harmed or misused in any way, proper legal action shall be taken to the fullest extent of the law.

This situation will likely never have a satisfying ending, not for me anyway. My involvement ended here but it's vital to share this experience because these fraudsters will undoubtedly find a new mark. Don't let it be you.

No money was lost but plenty of valuable things were: trust, hope, belief, happiness, joy, and optimism for a positive future. This type of theft creates deep, profound damage. These scams will undoubtedly have sequels that include new cast members. Again, don't let it be you.

Like Christopher at Real Jim's office said, at least this horrible event gave me something to write about. I reserve the copyright to rewrite a more satisfying ending, perhaps one where the Real Agent and Real Publisher actually like my book and off we go.

In the meantime, my mental hamster wheel will continue to churn out content, whether I like it or not.

Advice from the fraud department: If you are the victim of a scam, you are encouraged to contact law enforcement right away. You may also file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, your local State Attorney General's Office, and/or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

I chose to submit this article for consideration to The Writing Cooperative because writers must cooperate with each other to end these scams and most importantly protect each other. Listen for that squeaky hamster wheel.

Thank you so much for reading this little piece of me. Come back soon.

About the Author: Anne Kruse, M.S. is a used-to-be career counselor, and current freelance multi-media writer focusing on informative, humorous, and various think-pieces that attempt to pry open the brains of the curious and turn a light on. She will continue to earn your follow.