Scams have infiltrated all industries and many areas of our lives, evolving over time to adopt a myriad of forms. We’ve encountered a wide range. From emails purporting to be from Nigerian princes to fake recruiters sending WhatsApp messages, and even robocalls claiming a nonexistent niece is hospitalised and in need of rescue. Who doesn’t have an older relative who fell for an SMS scam?
In our realm, that of public relations in the tech world, our team, along with fellow practitioners worldwide, have been observing a troubling rise in scams attempted by illegitimate, so-called PR and media companies.
It’s frustrating to know that companies are falling for it. The impotence of not being able to help. Especially in our world of startups, where people work so hard and money is so crucial for survival. Every fundraising penny needs to be exploited to the max. Every pound, euro or dollar of revenue made (or wasted), can mean a different future for the startup.
That’s where hopefully we can make a tiny difference. If you think you might be falling for a PR or media scam, and turned to Google, we hope you find this.
Here’s how you can check whether that too-good-to-be-true email offer is in fact legit:
PR scams
Scam operations often overpromise in cold emails, targeting inexperienced founders with the allure of securing immediate attention from prestigious outlets like TechCrunch or Business Insider. Usually they mention US-based top tier publications. These cold emails tend to be remarkably impersonal. This is because you got on their radar through some list, or after becoming visible in the news, and not because they believe they can really help you.
Agencies that offer guaranteed coverage in top-tier editorials are literally waving a huge red flag on top of a hill. Such promises are fundamentally impossible to make as blanket offerings. Real agencies need to assess the newsworthiness of the client.
They may have professional-looking websites featuring logos of well-known media brands to spark interest. Often, they will lack case studies, but may include fake case studies. Do try to see if there are company names, names of people. You can always reach out to them if you need to make sure.
Investigate their “About Us” page and team information. Reputable agencies typically showcase their team on their website. Look out for names that seem fictitious, or photos that appear unrealistic or unprofessional. Additionally, verify their team members on LinkedIn for any inconsistencies. We once came across a scam company using a stock photo for their supposed CEO.
Another way these scam operations give it away is by how they structure their services. If their pricing and offerings resemble a “menu” of article types, including quantities of potential articles and references to top-tier publications, it’s likely a scam. Genuine PR professionals would refrain from making such exaggerated promises, especially without real knowledge of the potential client’s details. Legitimate agencies demonstrate their capacity for securing top-tier coverage and other successes through their case studies or client testimonials on their website. Again, referrals are key, so make sure you ask them for some (which would help anyways, even if you don’t suspect anything).
Real life example here, courtesy of Bill Byrne.
Media scams
As always, it will begin with a cold email. “Hi, we’ve been closely monitoring your progress, and you’ve been chosen for an exclusive opportunity to do an interview with us, including a video feature. Let’s schedule a call to discuss the next steps.”
Great, you might say. This offer might initially seem appealing. However, closer examination often reveals that the email is signed by an account executive or business development representative. Hmmm. Why not a journalist? Further scrutiny might reveal that the name of their outlet is a mix of words like Times, Reporter, Insider, Business, Leader, etc. It might sound similar to a known brand, but none that you can quite recall.
Finally, the email lacks a hyperlink. Or there might be one that is hidden at the bottom. The main thing is – they are not super proud of their site and aren’t interested in you checking it out too much. On Google, they fail to appear among the top results. Keep in mind – normally established media puts out a lot of high quality content, and media brands should rank extremely high if you search them.
Upon finding the outlet, it might look ok as a first impression. But upon further inspection, you might find it looks like a vast collection, no, dump, of interviews from various industries and countries, lacking any cohesive themes. Often, you will see there is no other editorial content – no opinion pieces, no news. Tools like SimilarWeb or Moz might show the outlet’s traffic is exceptionally low for a media entity. The articles may appear to be the result of cookie-cutters and superficial.
Their social media presence is either non-existent or characterised by an unusually low number of followers. Or, conversely, a large number of less than legit followers. Social media is always a good way to find out about legitimacy. Are known journalists connected to the person that emailed you on LinkedIn? Is the Twitter handle being followed by real people, ideally journalists? If the answer is largely “no”, you should ring the alarm!
This scenario is a typical sign of a scam operation masquerading as a media outlet, although it might not be quite scammy enough (like hackers who empty bank accounts fully) to be considered illegal. Over time, our team has become quite adept at identifying such scams, maintaining a comprehensive database of media opportunities that fail our ‘legitimacy check.’
Variations of this scam exist. The most common is the “CEO interview” scam, where the scammer secures interest and then introduces a significant fee, hoping the conversation has progressed too far for rejection. Fees typically range from £2,000 to £10,000.
Another common variant is the award scam. The business world is full of awards of varying prestige and significance. It’s psychological. Humans are wired to seek endorsements, recognition. Some awards are genuinely impactful and recognised, while others offer rather little more than being ‘nice to have’. The issue arises when entities exploit the human desire for recognition by offering awards that are less about merit and more about payment. While some legitimate awards require a fee to cover operational costs, we caution against those that essentially ‘sell recognition’.
We’ve also encountered propositions for corporate videos, with promises of exposure on major networks like CNBC. Upon investigation, however, these videos are often not broadcast as claimed. They may be uploaded to YouTube on channels associated with the production company, but not the media company. And they attract virtually zero viewership. The costs for such services can be pretty nuts, ranging from £20,000 to £100,000 or more. They do seem to produce actual videos, at least.
For a real life example, check out Bill Byrne’s LinkedIn post – like “New York Weekly” there are thousands of other fake publications. He also discusses this further in a podcast with Michelle Garrett.
Corrupt PR and in cahoots with writers
We hate to admit it, but it’s true. While we won’t say any names, it’s common knowledge that some top-tier publications have expanded their revenue streams by incorporating contributors into their roster of writers who help them increase content output and outsource marketing. Unfortunately, there have been instances where these contributors, who are often not journalists, have accepted payments in exchange for mentions or complete articles. Again, such practices are highly unlikely to occur among real journalists.
This arrangement might appear to be an ideal scheme for the cheaters. However, should these transactions come to light, the media companies in question do enforce strict measures. They will permanently ban the offending contributor, alert other publications, and erase all articles ever written by that contributor. Needless to say, these actions can severely tarnish the reputations of both the contributors involved and those who ‘purchased’ articles.
Where are we going with this? If a PR agency offers you guaranteed types of pieces in such contributor-friendly media networks, then please double, triple check that everything is done legitimately.
For PR people with dark intentions, know that real journalists will always say “no” and potentially even expose you, leading to grave reputational damage.
Indeed, there exists a market for securing editorial coverage, but its currency is not financial—it’s the newsworthiness of the content.
Want even more amazing startup PR advice? Check out our advice series, including:
How to choose the right PR agency for your startup
And lots more!
