Deceived: A Good Lesson for Bloggers

Hello and welcome to the J.Q. Rose blog!

When I began blogging, not using my J.Q. Rose pen name, but my real name, I was naive about the Internet. I thought everything I read on it was true! I bet you'v heard that tongue-in-cheek phrase--"If it's on the Internet, it's gotta be true."  Unfortunately, there are cyber snake oil sellers out there too. So beware and be alert.

Look at the scams perpetrated by those who are looking to make a quick, easy buck by duping rich old women to fall in love with them and then squeeze money out of them. How about those scam artists who portray themselves as government representatives to get private information and then steal a person's identity? And what about folks who set up shop as a kind person who wants to guide you through self-publishing your book with you, but instead charges you exorbitant fees to do so?

DECEIVED

I was fooled by a woman who portrayed herself as a romance author. At the time she contacted me, I was truly thankful she decided to be my guest and talk about her book on my new blog. To give me a chance, so to speak, to meet her readers. 

I put up her guest blog. In a few days I had 70 views, and the views kept growing. Wow! I was thrilled until one of the commenters told me this woman had plagiarized a novel. She had changed the character's names, but the story was exactly like the one by another author. 

I researched the accusation and discovered the commenter was telling me the truth! As I read on through articles about what the plagiarizer had done, I came across the comment about how she used unsuspecting bloggers to sell her books. 

I felt embarrassed and humiliated by this woman and her deceit. And yes, I felt used because I was such a rookie. I tried to contact her via email to ask about the accusation, but when she never answered I was sure she was a liar.  I immediately deleted her blog post and simmered. Come to find out this was her third time at trying this! Who knows how many more "novels" she manufactured for sure? How naive I was and trusting. To tell you the truth,  I was shocked to discover this could happen to me in my little corner of cyberspace. 

WHY TELL YOU THIS NOW?

I've never mentioned the experience on this blog, but I felt like I should today because it may help someone else to be alert and keep their eyes open to what could happen to them.

Thank you for allowing me to rant. Funny, in this season of forgiveness, I just realized I haven't ever forgiven that woman for tricking me. I guess I"ll have to work on that. Forgiving is so hard and just the opposite of what a human being wants to do. 

Have you ever been duped? How did you feel? Please leave a comment below.

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