I was suspicious. Yet I was so hungry for reviews, that I let that cloud my judgment.  So I got taken for money.

I was contacted somebody claiming to be

Laura margaret

Sep 11, 2025, 10:07 AM (13 days ago)

Event Organizer – New Cross Book Club

Of course, she kept asking to explain the process for having my book be featured.  I thought this was just a sales tactic to hook me before giving money.  Which was okay, as long as she was legit.

She was not.  She sent me the terms and then sent a link to Upwork.  Because it was a legit website. I thought I was safe.  I paid 99 dollars to a Akindele Samuel on upwork.

I did send a message to the book club to see if he had heard of these people.  But it took a few days for them to respond back.  I should have waited.

Upworks advice is to never pay upfront.  Seems logical.  Why did I not do that.

However, why don’t they warn a person.

The thing is in the back of my mind, I saw this as a gamble. Now that I lost, this is tough. I realized I should not have given in to the time pressure.

Do not pay to be in a book club. 

Do not pay for anything before they deliver what they promise

Do not pay to have your book featured. 

Do not respond to an email that says something great, would you like to know more.

Ask for a phone number to talk to them in person .  They will be done with you.

I now received a new scam email from:

Best regards,

–Tara Marie–

Admin At Books-20-to-50k

I wish I would have Google lensed this person’s picture.  Someone used her profile picture.  She had nothing to do with this.  This simple search would have saved me.

I have since gotten more scam emails.  I respond with

How do I know you are not a low-life scumbag scammer too stupid to get money honestly.

I want to lead them on and waste their time. However, it is not worth raising my stress levels. 

This is where I give my advice and say, I am telling my story to warn other. Please learn from my mistake.  That would suggest however that you don’t already know better.