Too good to be true: yet another scam

Yesterday, September 17, 2022, I received the following e-mail:

Dear Theodore Cohen,

I hope this email finds you well!

This is Alfonso Cuaron, I am a Mexican Film Director of the Movie "Gravity and Great Expectations".

Your book "Full Circle" reached my office and it was recommended by Hollywood Movie Agents that this material suits International Film this coming 2025-2026

We have seen great potential with your masterpiece to be an asset in the Hollywood market. We’ve been in the film industry for more than 20 years and we have a strong connection ins and outs of the arena, our partner film production companies like Warner Bros. Pictures, Lionsgate, Searchlight, Paramount, and Netflix are looking for unique stories like yours that we can use for entertainment. We are willing to buy your movie rights if you qualify.

We hope to conduct a further judgment to formulate a movie project for us to finance. You can reach me at my personal number 1-201 204 9003. You may also respond to this email with your contact details and a convenient time to call.


We look forward to working with you soon.

Best regards,

Alfonso Cuaron
Mexican Film Director | Netflix Director
9945 Beverly Grove Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Phone: 1 (201) 204-9003
Email: a.cuaron1961@gmail.com

Now, I have to tell you … anyone who knows who Alfonso Cuaron is would be most surprised by this turn of events. For those of you who do NOT know of this man, see the URL below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso...

“Alfonso Cuarón Orozco (US: born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican filmmaker. He is known for directing films in a variety of genres including the family drama A Little Princess (1995), the romantic drama Great Expectations (1998), the coming of age road film Y tu mamá también (2001), the fantasy film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), and the science fiction films Children of Men (2006) and Gravity (2013), and the semi-autobiographical drama Roma (2018), as well as the 2009 short I Am Autism.”

Now, I have to say, why would a man of this stature be interested in one of my writings. And besides, the e-mail looked less than professional (the syntax was poor) and the telephone number given was for a phone in New Jersey (201 area code (I doubt he uses a cell phone for business)).

In addition, the address given was not to a commercial property, but instead, to a beautiful home in Beverly Hills, CA, selling for close to $26 million.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/99...

Topping it all off, using a database to which I have access (I used to work as a private investigator) shows no “Alfonso Cuaron” in the United States that matches the history of person we know as this film director…which should be the case, given he has made his home in London for the last several years.

But, just to see where this all leads, I sent back the following e-mail (the telephone number was not valid, according to the automated announcement I received):
Dear Mr. Cuaron,

Thank you very much for your email earlier today.

I attempted to call you several times at 1 (201) 204-9003 but was told, by automated message, that this number was not valid. Perhaps the number, as listed in your email, is off by a digit.

Regardless, I am, of course, interested in speaking with you. You may reach me at (215) 968-xxxx (landline). I am in Pennsylvania and available up to 10 pm any day of the week.

Full Circle is a fictionalized autobiography of my life as a violinist. I never played the violin as well as I did in that novel! LOL. What a thrill it would be to see that book brought to life on the silver screen, which, in truth, is an homage to my late father.

Know, too, I have written two screenplays based on mystery/thrillers I published some years ago. The first is Death by Wall Street, which is based on real corruption I uncovered in the FDA between 2007 and 2010. As a result of my investigation, I was called to New York City to brief the FBI in 2012. My agent at the time, Charlie Barrett, attempted to sell the screenplay to Hollywood in 2012, but alas, we were not successful in finding a home for the work. The treatment is attached. As well, another of my screenplays, Beware those Closest, based on my novel House of Cards, is based on the financial collapse of 2009. I’ve also attached the treatment for that screenplay. Both screenplays were edited by Howard Allen, the Script Doctor. At one time, Howard had given some thought to producing Death by Wall Street. I recently published both screenplays in paperback on Amazon, and I would be happy to send you copies via Priority Mail, if you’d like to see them. I never did develop a treatment for Full Circle.

In any event, I look forward to discussing Full Circle with you.

Respectfully,

Ted
215-968-xxxx landline
215-595-xxxx cell phone

At this writing (10:30 a.m., Saturday morning, 9/17/2022), I have yet to receive a response.

In thinking about this entire matter, it occurs to me that this is simply one more way the scammers have found a way to pray on the indie author in an attempt to separate him or her from their hard-earned royalties. Consider the following article by Victoria Strauss:

https://writerbeware.blog/2021/07/02/...

“I’ve written a number of posts about scammers impersonating literary agents and publishers. Writers should be aware that they’re also impersonating major motion picture studios.”

Now things are starting to make a little more sense. Full Circle was published by AuthorHouse. In late 2010 or thereabouts, AuthorHouse moved their publishing arm to the Philippines (Cebu City). A few years after that, apparently, some of their employees left the company, taking with them a database on their employer’s clients (that is, we authors). That’s when I started to receive phone calls from the Philippines, ostensibly from companies wanting to talk about marketing my books, creating screenplays, helping me with getting my books in front of movie producers, etc.

I suspect (but of course don’t know) the email for “Cuaron” or whoever it is was simply another in a never-ending series of attempts to lure me into wasting my money on foolish marketing ventures.

It will be interesting to see whether or not I receive a follow-up (foul up) email from these jokers. There seems to be no end to their number these days.

Watch this space.

Ted