The Hungry Goblins (book reviewing group)

[Kingson]

I apologize if this is old news but I did not see this group mentioned in any lists etc... The original email author glowingly referenced one of my books and described himself as a "lifelong reader who built a community of 2,500+ book lovers called The Hungry Goblins."

I responded with, "What's the catch? You want money?"

Then this reply:

"Hi Marc,

Fair question and I get it completely. The world’s full of “offers” that come with fine print.

But here’s the honest truth: there’s no catch and no fees.
I don’t charge authors, and I never will. I run a community of passionate readers who genuinely love discovering great books and sharing their thoughts.

Authors simply tip readers individually not for a review, but as a friendly “thanks” for their time, like buying someone a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll . It keeps the experience authentic, human, and fair.

Every review that comes out of this is genuine, written by real readers who actually read the book and want to help it find its audience. That’s why it works because Amazon and readers can tell the difference.

You’ve built something powerful with Jules Landau: the grit, the heart, the realism of Chicago. My goal is to make sure more readers experience that.

Would you like me to share how the process works in simple steps so you can see exactly what to expect?

Warm regards,
Martin"

My b.s detector is flashing red but maybe I'm overreacting? I haven't received the "simple steps" of the process yet. Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[pdblake]

I think your BS detector is probably right. However it's wrapped up it sounds like the author is paying for reviews.

Eta: Also a quick Google search for The Hungry Goblins comes up with lots of links but nothing that resembles what you've described.

 

[Woollybear]

I wonder if it's a variation of the discussion we were having recently at the link: here. "Mary Charon marketing services." I think we felt those emails in their various iterations were bot-generated. Given there's no website for Hungry Goblins, it might be a bot as well.

There are places to get reviews for free, I think, in exchange for free copies of books, like Voracious Readers, or possibly Booksirens. But this is a bit of a derail.

 

[Stytch]

I wonder if it's a variation of the discussion we were having recently at the link: here. "Mary Charon marketing services." I think we felt those emails in their various iterations were bot-generated. Given there's no website for Hungry Goblins, it might be a bot as well.

There are places to get reviews for free, I think, in exchange for free copies of books, like Voracious Readers, or possibly Booksirens. But this is a bit of a derail.

100% this. Another sad AI scam.

 

[Maggie Maxwell]

These kinds of emails were recently brought up specifically in this thread with a link to a Writer Beware post about fake book clubs.

 

[frimble3]

2,500 readers and no-one's heard mention of them before? And 'tips'? Really? Know why they want 'tips'? 'Cause 'bots can't drink coffee!

 

[Friendly Frog]

Not overreacting! This is indeed a new type of scam.

Author Jason Sandford did a little digging when approached by one of these scammers. Quite boggling experience: A recently created discord forum full of AI accounts pretending to be interested readers to lull authors into a false sense of security. Oh, and and the tip the author has to cough up is $20 to $25 per member and with these clubs often having some 2000+ members, that's clocking up quickly for what will likely be a bunch of AI-generated book reviews, if any.

I reckon all those Nigerian princes started reading recently.

Avoid like the plague would be my advise.

 

[David_G]

I am now getting requests from the scam book groups on a regular basis. Each one I researched does not seem to actually exist. I never reply to the emails, fwiw.

 

[JJ Litke]

Author Jason Sandford did a little digging when approached by one of these scammers.

I was going to post this same link.

An important point from the Writer Beware article:

In other cases, the book club is real, with a presence on Meetup.com–as in this shorter and less personalized (and more authentic-seeming) email supposedly from Mocha Girls Read (a real representative of Mocha Girls Read has confirmed that this is an impersonation of both the club and the organizer)

So searching for the book club name to verify if it's real may not help.

 

[Kingson]

I think your BS detector is probably right. However it's wrapped up it sounds like the author is paying for reviews.

Eta: Also a quick Google search for The Hungry Goblins comes up with lots of links but nothing that resembles what you've described.

Yep, I couldn't find anything either. BS has a distinct odor, after all. I just received another email saying "Marc, waiting for your response," (with regard to taking the explanation process to the next level)

 

[Kingson]

I am now getting requests from the scam book groups on a regular basis. Each one I researched does not seem to actually exist. I never reply to the emails, fwiw.

Thank you!

 

[Kingson]

It's amazing (or maybe not) how susceptible I/we can be to evil humans preying on the hopes and dreams (or fears) of others. I shake my head in amazement that elderly folks get taken by scumbags yet I (not young but not elderly IMO) once received an email from Amazon telling me I had just purchased 5K worth of something etc..etc... The email had all the Amazon identity features, and had the last four digits of my SS# and the last several legitimate purchases I had made on Amazon. So my freakout meter went code red putting me in a state of irrational fear and I called the number (instead of just logging into my account and seeing everything was normal) and followed the instructions from the voice from India to solve the problem. They almost had me. Luckily sanity re-emerged when I was instructed to purchase a pre-paid credit card and read them some numbers on the back of the card. Omg, I felt like such a bloody fool.... Anyway, thanks everybody!

 

[pdblake]

There are a few simple rules.

If it sounds too good to be true, it's probably not.

If they ask for money, the answer is no (if you're a Yorkshireman who doesn't like spending money the answer is often a little more colourful).

If they want an answer now, then the answer is no.

I'm sure there are others but, generally, anything unsolicited is likely to be a scam or spam. Agents et al wait for you to submit to them, they don't go looking for you.

 

[JJ Litke]

Not getting scammed takes constant vigilance, which is exhausting. It only takes a single moment of lapse for it to happen. Getting scammed isn't a shortcoming. And people speaking out about their experiences is the main thing that helps us all. So thank you for posting about this, and for sharing your experience with Amazon, too. These are stories we need.

 

[frimble3]

There are a few simple rules.

If it sounds too good to be true, it's probably not.

If they ask for money, the answer is no (if you're a Yorkshireman who doesn't like spending money the answer is often a little more colourful).

If they want an answer now, then the answer is no.

I'm sure there are others but, generally, anything unsolicited is likely to be a scam or spam. Agents et al wait for you to submit to them, they don't go looking for you!

My father, a deeply suspicious man, who may, indeed, have had roots in Yorkshire, and who taught me the same things about scams, would totally agree.

 

[frimble3]

In general, if you get a phone call where there's a long pause, and then some stranger starts talking: it's a scam.
The long pause is the stranger checking an entire switchboard to see where they've made a hit.
Hang up. Or if you're bored and got nothing going on, waste their time. Complain about whatever's bothering you until they suddenly click off. You have just cut into their income and spared (briefly) whatever number they were calling next.