Combatting Fraud

Please click on the links below to jump to the relevant section:

• Publishing Fraud Alert
• Job Recruitment Fraud Alert
• Phishing Scam Alert

Publishing Fraud Alert

Here at Penguin Random House we understand the value of a good story. Unfortunately, bad actors do too.  We have learned that scammers are impersonating literary agents, editors, marketers, and providers of other literary services and are targeting self-published authors and other writers.  In some cases, these bad actors pretend that PRH is interested in publishing the author’s work.  These scammers usually seek payment from writers in exchange for facilitating a publishing agreement with PRH.  These communications are fraudulent.  PRH will never seek a fee from an author to read or consider a manuscript.  Reputable literary agents will not seek an up-front payment to represent a client.

We have become aware of instances in which scammers have used the Penguin Random House logo and/or names of PRH publishers, editors and even the CEO of our company to create fraudulent documents such as so-called “letters of interest” to perpetuate this type of scam. These are not real documents and the use of our logo and names is not authorized.  Please do not trust these types of documents, especially if they are shared in the form of screenshots.

Please be aware that Penguin Random House does not work with, endorse or have any relationship with the following entities:

• • Royal Oak Media
  • Penguin Publishing Agency
  • Penguin Publishing House
  • Fringe Penguin Publishers
  • Penguin House Publisher
  • Individuals purporting to be Robbie Guillory or Rose Taylor from Underline Literary Agency using the email domain @underlineliteraryagency.com
  • Dream Works Media – Social Media Agency
  • Angel Stevens
  • Silver Ink Literary Management (a.k.a. Editors Press and Media)
  • Ghost Writers Clique (a.k.a. Pro Writers Clique)
  • Writers Book Publishing House (Not to be confused with Writers House, a legitimate agency)
  • The Book Masters
  • Writer’s Desk
  • Impact Media Press
  • Smith & Co.
  • Global Review Press
  • Penguin Book Writers or Penguin Bookwriters
  • Rare Books Media
  • Stellar Literary Press
  • The “Penguin Random House shop” on store-officeproducts.com
  • PageTurner Press and Media
  • Penguin Books Literary
  • Bookpage Publishing
  • PenguinPublishers.com
  • Penguin Ghostwriting
  • Penguins Classic Writers
  • Individuals using the email handle @groupofacquisitions.com to communicate to writers that they have been shortlisted for an “acquisition screening.”
  • Gnome Book Writing
  • https://www.amzdirectpublishing.com/
  • Rebecka Hoffman & Associates
  • Author’s Empire Agency
  • AG Literary
  • Penguin Literary House
  • John Hewitt and/or Liz James
  • The Literary Pub
  • Zenith Literary
  • Book Trance Media
  • Ink Start Media
  • Penguin Authors House
  • Implicit Press Literary Agency
  • Penguin Publishing Experts
  • Wealth Agency Network
  • Lighthouse Literary

We recommend that prospective authors work with a professional literary agent to submit their manuscripts to us.  While we cannot recommend specific agents, you may find resources like Publishers Lunch  (https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/) or the Literary Market Place website (www.literarymarketplace.com)

Tips:

• If you receive contact from someone claiming to be PRH on social media, ask them to send you an email from their PRH address and pay close attention to the domain.
• If you are unsure of the identity of the sender of a communication, do not click on any links.
• PRH does not partner with agencies or companies that provide editorial or marketing services to unpublished or self-published authors.
• PRH will not ask prospective authors for any form of payment or bank account information as part of the manuscript submission process.
• PRH will not ask for or need a book trailer or promotional video as part of a manuscript submission.
• If you have any concerns about the legitimacy of an email purporting to be from a PRH employee or claiming a connection to PRH, you may contact us at fraud@penguinrandomhouse.com to check.
• Consult with an attorney before signing any contracts with a literary service.
• If you’ve been a victim of a scam, we encourage you to contact law enforcement right away.

Resources:

• FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center: https://ic3.gov/
• State Attorney General’s Office: https://www.usa.gov/state-attorney-general
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC):
• https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
• https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/scam-alerts
• Author’s Guild: https://www.authorsguild.org/

Job Recruitment Fraud Alert

Bad actors pretending to represent Penguin Random House are also posting fake job openings on recruitment websites in order to solicit personal information and/or money from prospective employees.  These bad actors may use a fake PRH email address (sometimes with our name misspelled) and may even use PRH’s logo on fake employment letters to further this scam. Please be advised that Penguin Random House will never ask for any payment as a part of a job application or as a condition of employment.

Please be aware that Penguin Random House does not work with, endorse or have any relationship with the following entities:

• Individuals using the email handle @applicantsinformation.com to offer fraudulent job opportunities as part of a ploy to steal personal information and money. These individuals have been known to impersonate PRH employees and contact their targets via email, LinkedIn, FreshTeam, and/or CareerBuilder.
• Mary Clarkson. This person is known for reaching out to individuals on services like Upwork and Telegram, using email addresses like “penguinrandomhousellc@gmail.com” which is not a legitimate PRH email address.

Tips:

• If you are unsure of the identity of the sender of an email, do not click any links in the email.
• Verify job offers and postings on third-party sites by checking the jobs listed on Penguin Random House’s Career Page.
• Look out for misspellings in the job posting or in the email domain name.
• Penguin Random House does not ask for bank account information or passwords as part of our recruitment process.
• If you have any concerns about the legitimacy of an email purporting to be from a PRH employee or claiming a connection to PRH, you may contact us at fraud@penguinrandomhouse.com to check.

Resources:

• FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center: https://ic3.gov/
• State Attorney General’s Office: https://www.usa.gov/state-attorney-general
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC):
• https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
• https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/scam-alerts

Phishing Scam Alert

Phishing is a social engineering attack using email and sometimes SMS messaging to trick individuals into divulging sensitive information or clicking malicious links that could result in ransomware attacks where a bad actor blocks or releases content on your machine. Phishing attackers want you to do something that benefits them, not you. They often offer large sums of money, publishing deals, or threaten you with a locked account or late fees. A phishing scam can result in a loss of a significant amount of money or a stolen identity.  For example, we have recently seen phishing scams where bad actors have emailed booksellers and convinced them to change the way in which they pay us so that they can intercept and collect the payments themselves.

Please be aware that the following are not legitimate Penguin Random House domains:

• @rhcboos.com, @rhcooks.com, and @rhcboks.com
• @penguinrandomhousebooks.com and @penguinrandomhousebooks.net

Tips:

• Pay close attention to the sender of the email. Email addresses should not contain a random series of characters and Penguin Random House will not email you from a Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail or other email address.
• If you receive an email asking you to route a payment to PRH somewhere new or unexpected, please contact your PRH Account Manager by telephone.
• If you are unsure of the identity of the sender of an email, do not click any links in the email.
• Even if you believe you know the sender, before clicking any links in emails hover your cursor over the link to see the full link and ensure it leads to a legitimate website.
• Look out for a sense of urgency, threatening words, spelling errors, incorrect punctuation, or strange spacing. These are clues that an email is a phishing email and not from Penguin Random House.
• If you receive an unsolicited email from Penguin Random House, verify its authenticity by contacting us at fraud@penguinrandomhouse.com
• Penguin Random House will NEVER contact you via text message without your prior written consent.

Resources:

• FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center: https://ic3.gov/
• State Attorney General’s Office: https://www.usa.gov/state-attorney-general
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC):
• https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
• https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/scam-alerts

Contact Us:

fraud@penguinrandomhouse.com

Outside the United States?

If you are in the UK, you can get free advice and report fraud to Action Fraud, either on their website at https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/ or by calling 0300 123 2040.

If you are in Canada, please contact us at canadaweb@penguinrandomhouse.com

If you are in Spain, please contact us at informacion@penguinrandomhouse.com

If you are in Australia, please contact the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) or report the scam here https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam.

If  you are in New Zealand, please contact  contacting Netsafe and/or Local Law Enforcement:

• https://report.netsafe.org.nz/hc/en-au/requests/new
• https://www.police.govt.nz/105support