Updates at JKRowling.com: Book Scam and other Rubbish

Jan 31, 2005

Posted by: SueTLC

Uncategorized

Our favourite author is doing some updating at her site. Readers will remember several weeks ago the news about a website supposedly selling e- copies of Half- Blood Prince. We posted a story about this, and now Jo has responded to that on her news section. She writes:

Harry Potter e-Book Scam
As many of you will know from reputable Harry Potter fan sites who reported this story, a site called www.harrybooks.info (now closed) has been offering what it alleged to be an e-book version of ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’- my thanks go to the Leaky Cauldron, in particular, for promptly warning fans what was going on.

You should NEVER trust any Harry Potter e-books offered for download from the internet or on P2P/file-trading networks. Setting aside the fact that these books are illegal (there are no authorised HP e-books to date), they may infect your computer with viruses, leave you vulnerable to the dangers of hacking and/or credit card fraud and may also contain content that has nothing to do with Harry Potter, to say the least.

I would bet the original manuscript of HPB itself that this will not be the last attempt to con HP fans before the publication of book six on 16th July. Please, please protect yourselves, your computers and your credit cards and do not fall for these scams. The only genuine copies of Harry Potter remain the authorised traditional book or audio tapes/cassettes/CDs distributed through my publishers. Similarly, the only sources of release news you should trust are this website or official spokespeople such as representatives of my publishers or agent (details in ‘Links section). CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

Jo has also updated the Rubbish section . There is an update in the Extra Stuff section about Owls where she gives some interesting background about Pig, Errol, and in particular, Hedwig. She also responds to a recent news story about the popularity of owls as pets.

There is also a new Wizard of the month: Artemisia Lufkin (1754-1825), the first witch to become Minister for Magic.





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.