In the example available to us, the following are offered and/or requested, among other things:
- “Author Packages” or programme slots in exchange for fees (e.g. £150 / €150)
- alleged “discounted participation options” or “special conditions”
- the selection of a payment method (e.g. bank transfer or credit card)
- organisational details (hotel/airport recommendations) to create an impression of legitimacy
- sender email addresses that do not belong to our official domains (e.g. Gmail addresses)
How to recognise attempted fraud
- The sender address is not an official Frankfurter Buchmesse address (e.g. @buchmesse.de)
- Requests for payment or fees for “reservations”, “programme inclusion”, “author rate”, or similar
- Pressure created by tight deadlines (“limited number of placements”, “finalising”)
- Unusual communication channels or unclear responsibilities/points of contact
Our official communication channels (invoices/payment reminders)
To ensure clarity, we would like to state two points:
- We send information about invoices and payment reminders exclusively via our regular communication channels.
- If you are unsure, please contact your point of contact at the Frankfurter Buchmesse directly.
If you have received a suspicious message, please also forward it to your point of contact. This helps us keep track of current cases.
Thank you for your attention and support.
