AI-written scam emails are impersonating real editors and agents
The Institute of Professional Editors issued a scam alert on September 2 about AI-generated emails that convincingly impersonate editors and agents at real publishing houses to praise a manuscript before asking for a fee.
Developing · day 5 · first reported Tue, Sep 1 2026
The Institute of Professional Editors issued a scam alert on September 2 about AI-generated emails that convincingly impersonate real editors and agents. Scammers scrape an author's bio, blurb and themes to have AI write a pitch that reads as if the sender actually read the book -- then ask for a fee. Verify any unsolicited 'we love your book' email by checking the sender's domain and contacting the named publisher or agency directly through its own website before you reply or pay anything.
Why it matters to you: AI makes these personalized-sounding pitches cheap to produce at scale, and they specifically target self-published authors who are flush with excitement right after a new release.
This story ran in the Coral Wire edition of Wed, Sep 23 2026, when the Coral Index stood at 35/100 (Headwinds).
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Every outlet found reporting this story.
- Scam alert, round 2: editors and authors in the same netiped-editors.org
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