Fraudulent Emails and Impersonation Scams

W. W. Norton & Company has become aware of an increasing number of scams targeting authors and writers across the publishing industry.

In these schemes, bad actors impersonate publishing professionals, literary agents, publicists, book clubs, reviewers, media organisations, festivals and other legitimate industry participants. They may use the names of real people, create convincing email addresses or reference actual books, authors and publishing houses in an effort to appear credible.

These communications often begin as invitations, compliments, interview requests, marketing opportunities, acquisition inquiries or offers of professional assistance. In some cases, the goal is to obtain money, personal information, banking details, manuscripts or other sensitive information.

What to Watch For

Be cautious if you receive an unsolicited message that:

• Comes from a Gmail, AOL, Outlook, Yahoo or other personal email account rather than an official organisational domain
• Uses an email address that closely resembles a legitimate company but contains extra words, unusual punctuation, misspellings or altered domain names
• Offers publicity, book club placement, interviews, reviews, awards, publishing consideration or film opportunities that lead to a request for payment
• Requests banking information, payment details or other personal information
• Creates a sense of urgency or pressure to act immediately
• Contains language that seems generic, overly flattering, awkwardly written, or inconsistent with professional publishing communications
• Claims to represent a Norton employee but originates from an unofficial email address

Important Information About Norton Communications

Norton employees communicate through official company email accounts.

If you receive a message claiming to be from a Norton editor, publicist or other employee and are unsure whether it is legitimate, do not click links, open attachments, provide personal information or send payment. Instead, contact Norton directly through publicly listed contact information or through your existing Norton contact.

A Reminder to Authors

As a general rule:

• Legitimate publishers do not charge authors fees to review manuscripts or consider books for publication
• Legitimate media outlets, book clubs, festivals and interview programs generally do not require invited authors to pay participation fees
• Reputable publishing professionals will not ask for banking information or payments as a condition of discussing publishing opportunities

If You Receive a Suspicious Communication

• If you are a Norton author and receive a message that appears suspicious, please contact your Norton editor or publicist for assistance in evaluating its legitimacy before responding.
• If you are not a Norton author and receive a communication claiming to come from a Norton employee, we encourage you to verify the message before engaging further