Author falls victim to AI impersonation scam targeting writers

Margot Saville, deputy opinion editor, discovered she was communicating with an AI scammer pretending to be a representative for Sally Sara from Radio National Breakfast, rather than being interviewed for an oral history project about her book The Battle for Bennelong. Saville has written four books in total, including two under her own name and two as a ghostwriter, as well as another titled The Teal Revolution. During the writing process for her last book, she wore an unwashed Uniqlo fleece and tracksuit pants, which led local church ladies to mistake her for a homeless person and offer her free bread. After receiving initial messages, Saville noticed that follow-up emails from the supposed assistant contained slabs of AI text, but she continued replying with detailed explanations of her creative process and research techniques. Her suspicions were only confirmed later when she read a Times app story featuring Ian Gardiner, a 76-year-old military history book author, and Victoria Strauss, co-founder of the Writer Beware website, detailing how fraudsters use artificial intelligence to impersonate industry figures and exploit authors' egos.

Context

Online scams using artificial intelligence to mimic media personalities, publishers, and literary figures have become increasingly common, often exploiting writers' desire for recognition and public exposure. These sophisticated phishing attempts rely on personalized flattery and tailored research to lower the targets' guard and draw them into prolonged communication.