Amazon has quite the problem with scammers. Most of us have come across questionable imitations or products that are incredibly overpriced. microSD card scam –However, the latest racket to be released is something quite different.
The author reports that the book cover and artwork were pirated and disguised as the original book that was used as a notebook cover and replaced with blank pages bearing the author’s name. .
We were scam alerted when we encountered a scam Twitter thread the author started Rob Manuel Detailing his recent experience. Manuel found a copy of his book The Very Best of Fesshole: British Confesses Anonymously about 24 hours after it was published on Amazon. This reproduced book was put up for sale at a lower price than Manuel’s original by an ‘author’ named ‘Rachid Zrika’.
How strange. My book, which we published yesterday, has been reproduced on Amazon. Of course we ordered. I can’t wait to read Rachid Zrika’s version. pic.twitter.com/iN4LIxR4r8October 28, 2022
Manuel discovers that there was a “Rachid Zrika” page on Amazon. This page has now been taken down and contains several apparently duplicated books with that name. The books on his list of Amazon bestsellers, including Dawn O’Porter’s Cat Lady and Leonard Cohen’s A Ballet of Lepers, are both written by and listed as being available from “Zrika”, and the original The book was sold at a fraction of his price. .
Manuel ordered a fake of his book and shared a video of what he received.
So I ordered a fake rip-off version of my book so I could own this unique keepsake pic.twitter.com/fX3eas4brhOctober 30, 2022
This fake “author” does not sell actual copies of these books, but disguises what is nothing more than a cheap notebook as the original work. Money for what is almost literally a hollow facade of authenticity.
We reached out to Rob Manuel, who told us that Amazon removed a clone of his book after he made a “bit of a ruckus on Twitter.” added to And those people will be disappointed with the trash notebook. ”
Another writer replied to Manuel’s Twitter thread saying the same thing happened to him, and when he reached out to Amazon UK for help, he said he was “just an author and not registered for VAT.” He added that he was not given any assistance because there was nothing.
A verified Amazon account, @amazonhelp, replied to the thread and included a link to a page where authors could report copyright infringement, but that was all Amazon did. We asked Manuel if he had heard anything directly from anyone at Amazon and to our surprise he had not.
I’m not sure how widespread this problem is, but I wouldn’t be surprised if other scammers are doing something similar to “Rachid Zrika” and have their own fake author pages.
When asked for comment, an Amazon spokesperson said: We have zero tolerance for plagiarized titles or content and invest in people and technology to protect our store from abuse. The flagged product has been removed. ”
Analysis: Amazon, please do better
Scams like this are always annoying, especially during Black Friday and the pre-Christmas shopping season. Shoppers in a hurry to pick up a bargain don’t always stop to check the small print, they can easily be taken advantage of and push themselves out of their pockets.
Considering Amazon started as a bookstore, it’s not unreasonable to expect that when you buy a book, you get exactly what you paid for. While Amazon’s prompt response to this issue is encouraging, it’s also problematic that they only responded when the issue was brought to their attention.
The usual advice when shopping online applies. black friday deals It looks too good to be true.
