Scam Alert: Impersonation of Reader Views

Authors:

We want to make our community aware of an impersonation scam currently targeting authors.

Someone is contacting authors using the name “Reader Views FM” or “Reader Views FM Radio” and offering a fake radio or podcast interview about their book. This outreach is not from Reader Views. We do not operate a radio station, and we have no affiliation with anyone using that name.

How to recognize it:

• The email comes from a Gmail address, such as “readerviews.interviews@gmail.com” rather than our official @readerviews.com domain.
• It uses a “Reader Views FM Radio” logo that is not our branding.
• It asks you to reply “Interested” to receive recording details, which is typically a lead-in to a request for payment.

What to do if you receive it:

Do not reply, click any links, or send money. The safest step is to delete the message.

How to know a message is really from us:

Reader Views only contacts authors from an @readerviews.com address. We never reach out from Gmail, and we do not send authors individual interview solicitations. Our author interviews are an optional service authors choose through our website.

We are reporting this impersonation through every channel available to us. If you receive one of these messages, or you’re unsure whether outreach is really from us, please contact us directly and we’ll confirm.

Thank you for helping us protect the author community.

Sheri Hoyte and Susan Violante
Managing Editors
Reader Views