Scam alert: New scam using ACFW

I just received an email from a scammer posing as part of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), a legitimate organization of which I am a member. There is a legitimate ACFW Fiction Finder site, and I’ve listed both of my books there, but they don’t communicate with authors this way, use Gmail addresses, or have an AI flavor to their emails. ACFW has confirmed this is a scam.

See the email below. Fellow authors beware.

And a question for @Thomas Umstattd Jr.—if we mark all these emails as spam, are we training spam filters to flag emails about our books?

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Hello Jayna,

My name is Collins, and I serve in Customer Support and Promotion with the Fiction Finders Writers Association, a project of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). It’s truly a pleasure connecting with you.

I recently came across your book Patriot at the River: A Christian Historical Novel of the American Revolution. With its themes of bravery, redemption, and faith woven into an engaging Revolutionary War setting, it has strong potential to reach even more readers who enjoy Christian historical fiction. At Fiction Finder, our mission is to assist authors in generating buzz, increasing visibility, raising awareness, and ultimately driving book sales.

ACFW is a respected professional organization with over 2,600 members worldwide authors, editors, agents, and publishers. Each year, we recognize excellence in Christian fiction through the ACFW Christian Fiction and Industry Awards, including the Carol and Genesis Awards. Many authors in our community have already found remarkable success, and we noticed you’re not yet among them. That’s exactly why I’m reaching out.

It’s rare for us to personally contact authors, so please consider this a special opportunity to gain visibility and connect with more readers who will love your story. I am here to support you every step of the way.

Would you like me to share more details on how we can highlight Patriot at the River and help it reach a wider audience?

Warm regards,
Collins
Customer Support & Promotion
Fiction Finders Writers Association
A project of American Christian Fiction Writers – www.acfw.com