So, this just happened…
Originally tweeted by Tricia (@triciasankey) on August 31, 2022.
It seems this woman Lavonda L. Powell is illegally making PDF’s of ebooks from Kindle and advertising them on Soundcloud for free if they sign up to her email list. I didn’t click all the way through but looks like some kind of subscription service. I have never heard of this before!! I was just searching my name on Soundcloud and it came up! I reported the copyright infringement to Soundcloud and will see what happens next. Very frustrating for any author to see this. 😡
Update:
I just checked back on SoundCloud and don’t see it there anymore! So, either SoundCloud removed the account after I reported it (no message from them) or she saw my comments saying I was onto her, and she removed the account. At least my good name and book are no longer associated with such a scam anymore!
Tricia Sankey 
thats appalling!!!
Yes!! I even saw she is advertising Tom Brady’s book but just put “Tom Bra” and then the title. But my whole name was listed with my book cover there for a free PDF. So when I clicked to see if she had it, it said Download Free or Read Free online. So, I clicked to read free online and then it wanted my email, so I stopped. But it seems to be some kind of package deal to get a lot of free PDF books. I have never heard of that on Soundcloud till now so wanted to warn everyone here!
How distressing to see somebody so blatantly stealing the work of others for their own gain.
Yes, I was shocked to see my book stolen, it’s not something I imagined happening after publishing on Amazon. 😟
That’s horrible! Good luck to you!
Thanks, Nancy! I have tagged Soundcloud support now as well on Twitter, so hopefully they get the hint fast that they need to act and not let all my hard work be given away by scammers!
Tricia, I am so sorry. It’s awful. I hope they solve it.
Yes, I’d heard songs can get ripped off there, but I had no idea about this PDF book scam going on. Geez, the world we live in! 😓
Awful indeed. Take care hon 🌹🌸🌺
Thanks! 🥰
Hope they resolve it soon. From what I can get from your info, chances are there is no books as PDF’s, this person is just doing this so they can grab a hold of your email and potentially then use it for other stuff. At least, this is the type of scam I heard about before, there is a chance that actual books are there for free, but I highly doubt it.
Still a horrible thing to see and unwillingly be a part of, and hope Soundcloud reacts swiftly.
Yes, I agree, it may be a grab for emails and the book covers are the bait. I just wonder what other platforms these people throw my name and novella around on now. 🤷♂️
I have done a quick google search and managed to find nothing about this; I am hoping that means Soundcloud deals with it swiftly – but at the same time, I have found plenty of other similar accounts. It makes me feel like there is definitely no books involved, but it is an obvious scam. I’d expect at least some info from Soundcloud themselves, just warning people not to fall for it or something.
I appreciate your thoughts on this, I just recently got on Soundcloud and wasn’t sure how much of this goes on. It is odd to see my little novella on there, seems it’s been there for a few months. I’ll keep you updated on what happens! ♥️
Update: I just checked and don’t see it there anymore! So, either SoundCloud removed it (no message from them) or she saw my comments saying I was onto her, and she removed the account. At least my good name and book are not associated with such a scam anymore! 😌
Good news to hear, and fast response too! Seeing that the account is gone, it just confirms that it is most most likely a phishing scam; good that it is gone!
Actually, I just checked further, and although my track seems to be gone, her others are still there!! https://soundcloud.com/lavondalpowell Crazy!
That is not good at all, and even more so cause usually, when you want to cite DMCA or anything copyright to get this obviously scamming material offline – they ask that the author and only the author themselves reports it.
That’s what I was thinking. I did see another author she had on Twitter and have reached out to inform him.
Thanks for the warning, Tricia! Perhaps you should flag it up to Amazon as well…
I will see if SoundCloud acts quickly, but keep that in mind if they don’t. Thanks, Ingrid! 🥰
What a shock for you Tricia. Hope SoundCloud sort it asap. So much fraud going on – one has to be one’s guard all the time!
Yes, I thought maybe I’d have to be a lot more famous to have the book snagged (even if it just might be name and cover) 😆 We all should beware this stuff happens.
Pleased to hear that👍
Just goes to show …
(One of my poems was copied onto someone’s site a while ago, they changed the font and format but used my words – I didn’t know whether to be cross or flattered!)
That’s awful! I would be madder if she hadn’t at least attributed the book to me. I know on Twitter there have been mentions of other accounts stealing poems from the #vss writers there and when we find out, we call them out and publicly shame them! I was always like, hmm, they didn’t want mine?? haha! 🤣
It’s a funny old world 😉!
💯
This may be one more kind of scam. SoundCloud might not be aware of.
It looks like she’s had my title sitting there for 3 months flying under their radar! They haven’t responded to me yet, hopefully it won’t take long or I will contact Amazon as well.
Yes, better to contact Amazon!
because of how everything is online these days, it makes it easy for anybody to take from what they read off of the internet, and use it as their own, and there’s nothing we can do about it, and putting that copyright sign wouldn’t do a thing, because if someone has the intent to plagiarize, s/he will, and we can only pray, that people on the internet are morally responsible to not plagiarize what they read off of the internet…
Yes, agreed! Update: I just checked and don’t see it there anymore! So, either SoundCloud removed it (no message from them) or she saw my comments saying I was onto her, and she removed the account. At least my good name and book are not associated with such a scam anymore!
Good news! A quick resolution. Hopefully a lasting one.
Actually, her account is still there where she is doing this to others, but I think I can only report her based on my copyright infringement. I will keep my eye out more on there to see if it happens again, for sure!
That is outrageous! I can’t believe they did not shut her down! Hopefully they will do the right thing – clearly, she isn’t! Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Yes, I told SoundCloud on Twitter and they just want ME to complete more forms, but I already did it yesterday and it is designed for the copyright holder only from what I have seen. This is the account https://soundcloud.com/lavondalpowell So she has 547 “tracks” advertising PDF’s of books she doesn’t own. 😡
How bold. What a disgusting human being.
Yes, people have no shame!
I’m so happy that this scam has stopped. Excellent. How scary this is though. 😔
Her account is actually still there with over 500 books advertised that aren’t her own…but at least mine has been removed. I tweeted asking SoundCloud to remove her whole account but they just direct me back to a form to fill out but it’s designed for the person with copyright infringement to complete so I can only protest my own works. I’m disappointed in SoundCloud!
Wow! That’s so frightening and disappointing, yet, I am so happy you are letting everyone know, and that your work is not there anymore. That’s good!
Yes and I’ve got my eye on that gal if she tried it again! 😡 Thanks, Jeff! 💞
So glad you caught it! What a lousy thing to do.
Yes, it’s pretty low, hopefully won’t happen again, but I’m keeping my eye on SoundCloud! ‼️😆