An Omaha woman who shares her experiences to help others get out of domestic abuse situations is a victim again. This time she's out money to promote her book.
Judy Rose, 78, wrote the book "Blonde Rose And the Men Who Wandered Through Her Life." It was published in 2012 by Author House Publishing. It discusses verbal, physical, and sexual abuse that she endured and she hopes that other women read it to show them that it's not their fault, and there are ways to better their lives.
Last year, a company called Author Pro convinced her they could promote her book and worked with her publisher. After a couple of weeks of talking to a representative, she sent them $1,000. That's when Author Pro stopped taking her calls and emails.
"It's not the $1,000 it's the idea that people are out there wanting to make money off of your tragedy off of the pain that you went through," Rose explained.
The Better Business Bureau of Nebraska, SW Iowa, South Dakota, and the Kansas Plains says it's a sophisticated scam they've seen before preying on Rose's emotions to take advantage of her.
"We have been able to connect with Author House and confirm that Author Pro has no connection to their company so clearly author pro misrepresented themselves to our victim," said Jim Hegarty, CEO of the BBB of Nebraska. "We've seen them before where individuals clearly that would like to have their books into the hands of more people that it can help are exploited and they're socially engineered into sending money, and then obviously nothing happens communications are cut off."
The BBB believes there are indicators Author Pro is a scam. The language on their website is duplicated from other legitimate publishers, and there is no sign that the company actually has a headquarters.
Author Pro did not return calls and emails from 3 News Now.
If you're working with a company and you aren't sure they're legit you can always call the Better Business Bureau at 402-391-7612, or use their Scam Tracker at: https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker/us
