Fake literary agent cons authors out of £500k

I wouldn't have to do more than see his photo

I'd like to have sympathy for the people he ripped off, but I'm struggling with it.

Common sense? Research?

seun said:

I'd like to have sympathy for the people he ripped off, but I'm struggling with it.

Common sense? Research?

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This.

Also...to be well-connected in Hollywood, wouldn't it help to live in...oh, I don't know, not Devon?

Devon is the new Hollywood. They're shooting Die Hard 5 there as we speak.

Bruce Willis is John McClane - a burnt out cop one day away from retirement in a sleepy English village deep in the heart of Devon. Now a crack team of European terrorists, headed by Jim Broadbent, have taken the local postmaster hostage.

How can the same (cow)shit happen to the same guy twice?

I have to agree why would you remortgage your house and give the money to someone that you hadn't even googled?

Lordy. Even if he did know famous people, that's no guarantee he knows anything about the business.

I started feeling a little sorry for the old guy, maybe a little delusional believeing he was going to have his script made into a movie directed by Scorsese and starring Depp. But 622 payments over six years??? Sympathy just flew out the window.

From the article:

Defending, Stephen Mooney said Price was ‘a broken, destitute rather sad individual’ who lived on £4 a day in a bed-sit with his cat and dog.


He said he had not spent the money on living the high life.

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Then they should have no trouble recouping it.

seun said:

Devon is the new Hollywood. They're shooting Die Hard 5 there as we speak.

Bruce Willis is John McClane - a burnt out cop one day away from retirement in a sleepy English village deep in the heart of Devon. Now a crack team of European terrorists, headed by Jim Broadbent, have taken the local postmaster hostage.

How can the same (cow)shit happen to the same guy twice?

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Twice? Wouldn't it be the fifth time?

'Hey I'm awesome and know awesome people. Give me some money and I'll make you awasome.'

'Yeak, okay. Let me know if you want more because I have too much money and not enough awesome.'

'Indeed I will. Mwahahahaha!'

People can be stupid.

Dr.Gonzo said:

'Hey I'm awesome and know awesome people. Give me some money and I'll make you awasome.'

'Yeak, okay. Let me know if you want more because I have too much money and not enough awesome.'

'Indeed I will. Mwahahahaha!'

People can be stupid.

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Damn it, that's the sum total of my C.V.

Vince524 said:

Twice? Wouldn't it be the fifth time?

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THAT'S the bit you pick on from my gibberish plot idea?*


*Which I think actually sounds better than the fourth film.

scarletpeaches said:

Damn it, that's the sum total of my C.V.

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Would you like me to improve it for a small six-figure charge?

PS, I know famous people.

Dr.Gonzo said:

'I have too much money and not enough awesome.'

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Quote love. This describes far too many people, and I wish the media would stop assuming I care about them.

Ahem. Returning you to your scheduled thread...

The frightening thing is that when I was young and foolish (I am now older and if not wiser at least more cynical) I could probably have fallen for this sort of scam. And as for - 'He didn't spend the money on living the high life...' so he lived in squalor and spent what he'd stolen on drugs? That's supposed to make it better? I can't help wondering if he was taking out his own utter failure in life on his victims.

That's horrible, but I lack sympathy for the writers. They get an A+++ for gullibility.

Couldn't they tell something was amiss with handing over all that money? Nothing ever happened with their screenplays, obviously, yet they kept on paying the guy. Didn't they research? Didn't they ask questions when nothing was happening? I mean, come on.

The only way to fall for any scam is to give someone else money. Money flows to the writer, never away.

seun said:

THAT'S the bit you pick on from my gibberish plot idea?*


*Which I think actually sounds better than the fourth film.

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Hahah you joke but they ARE indeed making Die H@rd 5.

From Wikipedia: On May 5, 2010 it was announced that X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The A-Team writer Skip Woods was in negotiations to script a fifth Die Hard movie and the film will be produced by Alex Young. Bruce Willis will again return as John McClane and Willis said that he would like to see Live Free or Die Hard director, Len Wiseman, return and would also like to see the story take place outside of the United States with a tentative title of Die Hard 24/7.

***

Hmmm, outside of the US - perhaps in Devon?!?

Also, to get back OT, as hard as it is to sympathize with people who get fleeced like that, some people are not nearly as sophisticated, smart, or internet-savvy as others. And nothing excuses scam artists for breaking the law or deliberately scamming others, IMO.

Should he have contacted me, I'd have said, "Please have Mr. Depp come over to my house to discuss this deal and stay forever as my love slave."

Standard business procedures, everyone.

Kasey Mackenzie said:

Also, to get back OT, as hard as it is to sympathize with people who get fleeced like that, some people are not nearly as sophisticated, smart, or internet-savvy as others. And nothing excuses scam artists for breaking the law or deliberately scamming others, IMO.

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Especially when, as in this case, there are elderly, vulnerable people being targeted.

Ah, man, that's so sad. How can someone claim to want to write professionally then put forth no effort into researching the industry? It doesn't take more than an hour on line or at the library to discover that this “agent” operates the exact opposite of legitimate agents.

So, 300,000 pounds isn't even worth an hour's worth of research effort? That's what's sad.

I mean, you wouldn’t say “I want to open a resturant” and then just go rent a space. You’d learn how to get your shelves stocked, and how to advertise, how to keep proper track of your finances, how to file taxes as a business, how to hire a chef, etc. Hell, you’d make sure you knew how to cook first, am I right?

What is it about the writing industry that makes everyone and their dog think they can enter it successfully without learning anything about it?

But no, that doesn't excuse this guy from ripping people off.

MJNL said:

Ah, man, that's so sad. How can someone claim to want to write professionally then put forth no effort into researching the industry?

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You'd be surprised. I see it every day in Uncle Jim's Mailbag -- even after I've explained that the "agent" in question has never sold a book in his life and is currently doing ten-to-twenty in prison for fraud. "Yes, but my book is different," say the bright-eyed newbie authors.

Seriously, all you have to do is tell some unpublished author that you love their book, and they'll send you their credit card and their PIN. It's like magic.

See the This Is Not an FAQ thread elsewhere.

Also: No matter how cynical, sophisticated, and street-smart you may be, the right con on the right day can get you, too.

James D. Macdonald said:

Also: No matter how cynical, sophisticated, and street-smart you may be, the right con on the right day can get you, too.

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Years ago, I allowed myself to be taken in by an agent who loved my novel, all for the hefty price of $350.00, which I had saved up for something else. I got his name out of that big literary marketplace book at the library. I think this was before internet was commonplace in homes (about 1993), or at least I did not have it yet.

It turns out this guy never read my novel, and he didn't submit it anywhere that I know of. He wanted renew my contract after six months for $350.00 more dollars. Of course, I told him no, send it back an that was that.

Well, once I did get online, I learned this agent was well-known for scamming every client he took on. His name was all over the place. Back then, I was new at submitting and landing an agent, didn't listen to my friends, and lost out. Now, I'm all the smarter for it and would not allow anyone to scam me again.

1993 was about the time I formulated Yog's Law: Money Flows Toward the Author. This was in response to Commonwealth Publishing, but it's proved useful over the years. Scammers have all kinds of explanations for why you should sent them money; some of their explanatations seem quite plausible. But if you remember that the only place an author signs a check is on the back, you should come out okay.

(And if someone tells you that it's an "investment," ask 'em if they've signed up with the SEC....)

Wayne K said:

I wouldn't have to do more than see his photo

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Put a flop hat on him and you have Freddy Krueger.