A Tiny Follow-Up on My Marketing Scammer

A while back, I posted about a message I received on Instagram from someone touting their marketing services. Like anyone who identifies themselves on social media as an author, these types of messages come fast and furious, and they all generally have the same modus operandi, with minor variations.

Many of their profiles state that they themselves are authors, and in their DM's they say how happy they are to connect with a fellow writer. They'll ask innocuous questions at first, such as the number of books I've written, and I'll go along, on the off-chance this is the one in a million times when I'm communicating with an authentic person. But it doesn't take long for them to get to the point. "How happy are you with your sales?" I should respond with, "Are you kidding? They're fantastic!" Instead, I just delete the conversation.

The only message that gave me pause came from LoomingLiterary Hq (sic), and as my linked post notes, the person mentioned that they've been working with an author named Timothy Noah, so naturally I Googled him. He's real, all right, but he didn't strike me as someone who'd need to employ a marketing company this cheesy. Take a look at their website.  

Before I researched further, I decided to DM the author. I found him via an Instagram search and essentially asked him if this whole thing was real. I didn't expect to hear back from him, because he's someone (according to Google) who actually has a thriving writing career. I DM'd him over a month ago, then forgot about it. 

In the meantime, though, I found the oddly-named company mentioned on Writer Beware (in the postscript). The article itself (and coincidentally, I follow Alina Adams on Substack) details pretty much the same experience I had, except I dropped the conversation once the person provided their website and I took a look at it (!)

Well, yesterday "Timothy Noah" finally got back to me. Having forgotten the whole scamming attempt, I was initially confused that he'd messaged, "I just realised you asked me something." But he went on to say how very satisfied he was with LoomingLiterary Hq.

Cool. Except...

Google tells me that Timothy Noah is a native-born American. Americans spell it "realized", not "realised". 

I may be mostly a dunce, but I'm great at spotting odd spellings of words. The real Timothy Noah does have an Instagram account, but this wasn't him. Amazing how an underscore in a user name can fool people. So, this "marketing company", desperate as they are, sets up fake author accounts so that people like me who bother to check will be met with a glowing review of the enterprise. Seems like a lot of work, but to each his own.

Like Alina Adams, I did DM the real Timothy Noah to notify him, though he's probably too busy to care, but it felt like the right thing to do. (No, I don't expect a response. That's okay.)

What does puzzle me is why the scammer took so long to get back to me. That's no way to do business! How amateurish! 😎 Maybe in cosplaying the real guy, they thought that responding immediately would be too unbelievable, seeing as how he has an actual literary career.  

If you're an author using social media, you're well aware of these exhausting communications. It's not just on Instagram; X might be even worse. Sure, it's mainly the only engagement I ever get, but I'd be just fine without it; thanks.