I keep seeing the same thing happen to our clients, and honestly, it's getting pretty frustrating 🤨
They'll come to us worried because they got an email demanding payment for a guest post that they already paid us to reach out and coordinate.
And I get why they're confused - these people pretend to be the site owners and quote the actual page of the post we arranged for them.
Keep reading to find out how they do this… or watch my quick video that runs you all through it with examples as well.
Here's how things usually go down:
"We don't know what's going on because we're already paying you," our clients write back to us.
And I have to explain that these emails are complete scams.
The timing is what makes it so effective, I think.
These people are hitting businesses that are already investing in SEO, so there's this moment where our clients wonder if maybe they missed something or if there's some cost we didn't tell them about.
It's All Automated (and pretty sophisticated)
Here's what's actually happening behind the scenes.
These aren't individual scammers sitting around typing emails.
They're running bots that scrape websites that are known to accept guest posts, then they’ll look for contact information for the links that they find on new posts.
Once they find an email address, the system automatically sends out payment demands.
This isn't someone doing this process manually, they've got bots that do this and they go out by the thousands.
So if you're getting these emails even though you already paid for someone to complete the outreach of a guest post, that's why. You're just caught up in their automated net, basically.
The scale is what makes it work for them. Even if only a tiny percentage of people fall for it, they're sending thousands of these emails with almost no effort. It's a numbers game.
How I Teach My Clients to Spot These Scams
I've developed a pretty simple system for identifying these fake emails.
Three steps, and the second one is usually the dead giveaway.
First: Don't click anything
I tell all our clients this for any suspicious email, not just these scams.
Don't click the links.
I know it's tempting to investigate, but just don't do it.
Second: Check the email address
This is where these scammers always mess up.
Let me show you some real examples from emails my clients have received.
One came from "victoriagenesis742@gmail.com" claiming to own some website.
But if Victoria actually owned that website, wouldn't her email be victoria@thatwebsite.com?
Another one: "katieholly.uk@gmail.com" saying she represents psychtimes.com.
Again, if she really worked for that site, wouldn't it be katiehollie@psychtimes.com?
Once I point these discrepancies out, our clients usually get it right away.
Third: Just ignore it
Delete the email.
Don't forward it around.
Don't stress about it.
If you're really worried, grab your phone and take a screenshot to send the photo to your SEO company.
But don't forward the actual email.
Why These Scams Work So Well
The thing that makes these particularly effective is they target businesses that are already doing SEO work.
If you're paying for link building, you know it costs money.
You know guest posts are part of the process.
So when an email shows up asking for payment, there's this little voice in your head that wonders if maybe it's legitimate.
But here’s what you need to remember.
If you're working with a real SEO company like us, we handle all of this.
We do the outreach, we negotiate with site owners, we handle the payments, and we keep you informed about what's happening.
If there was actually a problem with a guest post payment the owner of the site would reach out to us, the people they have been dealing with all along.
Random emails demanding immediate payment from people you've never heard of?
That's just not how legitimate SEO work operates.
Though I understand why someone new to this might not realise that.
A Message for the People Doing This
If you're one of the people sending these scam emails - and maybe you are Katie Holly or Victoria Genesis or whoever - just stop it.
Seriously, stop doing this.
Find a way to build actual value in the marketplace, then sell that service to someone and help them out instead of sending fear-based emails like this and scamming people.
It's not just that you're hurting individual business owners, though you are. You're making the whole SEO industry look sketchy, and that makes it harder for legitimate companies to do good work for clients.
TLDR: What to Do If You Get One of These
My advice is pretty straightforward.
Don't panic.
These emails are designed to create urgency and make you pay quickly without thinking it through.
Don't click anything in the email.
Check the sender's email address - does it actually match the website they claim to represent?
If not, it's definitely fake.
Delete it and move on with your day.
If you want to double-check with your SEO company, take a screenshot and send that over. We're used to seeing these and can confirm it's a scam.
That's really all there is to it. Don't overthink it.
The Bottom Line
Here's what I tell every client who comes to me worried about these emails: if you're already working with us and paying us appropriately, we take care of any legitimate costs involved with guest posting and link building services.
These random emails trying to scare you into paying?
They're scams, period.
Just put them in your trash and forget about them.
The legitimate SEO work happens through proper channels with people you actually have relationships with.
Surprise payment demands from strangers are never part of that process.
I wish I didn't have to keep explaining this to clients, but as long as these scammers keep sending these emails, I'll keep helping people understand what they're really dealing with.