[INDOLOGY] Book Club Invitations

Tue Aug 25 17:11:04 UTC 2026

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/books/review/publishing-scams.html

AV.

On Tuesday, August 25, 2026, Fitzgerald, James via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear colleagues,
>
> I have received several solicitations of both kinds--purported
> "reading-groups" and "Wikipedia editors."  I was struck by the surprisingly
> nuanced account the first one gave of my work. The folks at the Univ. of
> Chicago Press sent me this link, which documents the former scam at some
> length.
>
> https://writerbeware.blog/2025/09/19/return-of-the-
> nigerian-prince-redux-beware-book-club-and-book-review-scams/
>
> On Fri, Aug 21, 2026 at 5:04 PM huet via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> In the same vein, I have been pestered during the past year by emails
>> whose sending addressee mascaraded as a Wikipedia official message. Telling
>> me that my Wikipedia page is not up to my reputation, with vague threats
>> that this violated Wikipedia standards, etc. Proposing to help fixing the
>> situation with their assistance. I naively responded to the first one, but
>> then quickly realized that consulting fees would be required, and took as
>> physhing.
>> Then it developed into an avalanche of similar mails, showing that fixing
>> Wikipedia pages of living individuals was a cottage industry, with fake
>> Wikipedia editors sharks lurking. Beware !
>>
>> Gérard
>>
>>
>> Le 21 août 2026 à 21:50, Lavanya Vemsani via INDOLOGY <
>> indology at list.indology.info> a écrit :
>>
>> Hello All,
>> Interesting to read this scam is widespread.
>> Yes, received these messages. Did not respond but checked it with AI
>> which said it was a scam.
>> I also received another type of messages asking me about advising
>> position with cultural representation for media/movie companies. These
>> turned out to be scam as I checked it with AI again. They were quick to
>> send Non Disclosure Agreement when I asked for more information. Very
>> fishy.
>>
>> Thank you.
>> Lavanya
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Aug 21, 2026, at 8:46 AM, David Slakter via INDOLOGY <
>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>
>> 
>> Making outlandish or easily disproven claims is an establishment trick
>> for email scams. Scammers too only have a limited amount of time. It's much
>> easier for they can restrict their target pool to people who believe
>> they're dealing with the representatives of a generous Nigerian prince.
>>
>> David Slakter
>>
>> On Fri, Aug 21, 2026, 8:31 AM Jeffery Long via INDOLOGY <
>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>
>>> That’s a great point, Antonia!
>>>
>>> That said, these emails have become very transparent. As Ananya
>>> mentioned, they often claim to be from real, often prominent, people. In
>>> the case of one of the earlier emails I received of this kind, I contacted
>>> the actual person from whom it claimed to originate (a journalist from NPR)
>>> and that person’s assistant informed me that they were aware that someone
>>> was using his name in a scam.
>>>
>>> The most amusing of these emails that I received claimed to be from
>>> Stephen King! I would like to think that Stephen King reads about Indian
>>> philosophy, but my suspicion is that he is otherwise occupied.
>>>
>>> Looking forward to your Latin and Greek courses,
>>>
>>> Jeff
>>>
>>> Dr. Jeffery D. Long
>>> Carl W. Zeigler Professor of Religion, Philosophy, & Asian Studies
>>> School of Arts & Humanities
>>> Elizabethtown College
>>> Elizabethtown, PA
>>>
>>> https://etown.academia.edu/JefferyLong
>>>
>>> Series Editor, Explorations in Indic Traditions:
>>> Ethical, Philosophical, and Theological
>>> Lexington Books
>>>
>>> “One who makes a habit of prayer and meditation will easily overcome
>>> all difficulties and remain calm and unruffled in the midst of the trials
>>> of life.”  (Holy Mother Sarada Devi)
>>>
>>> “We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself.” (Carl Sagan)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Aug 20, 2026, at 6:50 PM, Antonia Ruppel <rhododaktylos at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Just thought I’d add my usual two Euro cents on using AI here: simply
>>> search online for scam book club Goodreads (or whatever other platform was
>>> offered to you) and you will find large numbers of actual people telling
>>> you this is actually a scam. (Also, lots of people write genuine emails
>>> with the help of AI, so that alone doesn’t tell you much.)
>>>
>>> Your luddite truly,
>>>      Antonia
>>>
>>> On Thu 20 Aug 2026 at 22:39, Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh at umich.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I also received one of these, but it looked fishy to me. I ran it
>>>> through ChatGPT and was told that this was most likely a scam message.
>>>>
>>>> Madhav
>>>>
>>>> Madhav M. Deshpande
>>>> Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
>>>> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
>>>> Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
>>>> Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore,
>>>> India
>>>>
>>>> [Residence: Campbell, California, USA]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Aug 20, 2026 at 3:27 PM Antonia Ruppel via INDOLOGY <
>>>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Not dozens in my case, but also just two, specifically for Goodreads.
>>>>> It seemed odd to me right from the start that someone wanted to make some
>>>>> poor book club read my Sanskrit textbook, so I never responded.
>>>>>
>>>>> Antonia
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu 20 Aug 2026 at 22:06, Jeffery Long via INDOLOGY <
>>>>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear Patrick, I receive these almost daily. Like you, I took it at
>>>>>> face value at first. But it’s a scam. I started putting these emails
>>>>>> through an AI detector. They have all come up as 100% written by AI. I now
>>>>>> delete them reflexively. All the best! Jeff
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
>>>>>> <https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&af_sub1=Acquisition&af_sub2=Global_YMktg&af_sub3=&af_sub4=100000604&af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_&af_ios_store_cpp=9d3a686e-218d-4849-8298-b480188dc8ac&af_android_url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.yahoo.mobile.client.android.mail%26listing%3Demail_signature>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thursday, August 20, 2026, 5:51 PM, Uskokov, Aleksandar via
>>>>>> INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear Patrick,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have received these as well, though not quite a dozen, more like
>>>>>> two. I had the same experience, an initial brief exchange until it was
>>>>>> obvious that they want money.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Best wishes
>>>>>> Aleksandar
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Get Outlook for iOS <https://aka.ms/o0ukef>
>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of
>>>>>> Patrick Olivelle via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
>>>>>> *Sent:* Thursday, 20 August 2026 17:28:19
>>>>>> *To:* INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
>>>>>> *Subject:* [INDOLOGY] Book Club Invitations
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear All:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Just wanted to alert you all to a scam that is widespread. Someone,
>>>>>> generally with only a first name, sends an email saying he/she is leading a
>>>>>> large book club and would like to read a book of yours. They want you to
>>>>>> support this effort, and with the added advantage of publicity for the
>>>>>> book. Over the past year or so I must have received at least a dozen such
>>>>>> requests. I did respond to the first one, and with the third email there
>>>>>> was a request for money, small amount like a couple of hundred dollars, so
>>>>>> help with expenses — and she said this is NOT a pay to pay scan. I stopped
>>>>>> responding. Wonder how many have received similar emails.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> With warm good wishes,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Patrick
>>>>>>
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>>>>>>
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-- 
Sent on the fly, please excuse typos.
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