Did anyone else get a rejection from her email that wasn’t from a secure email? I just want to check in and confirm.

@jennybent is Nicola Barr sending out rejections at this time? I just received one today it didn’t have her name in the sign off and that she wasn’t the right agent? It look suspicious that’s why I’m asking.

Hi all, this is Jenny Bent from TBA. Nicola was indeed the victim of a cyberattack and we've hired a security firm to try to get to the bottom of it. We have also been in contact with the author affected. If you received an email from Nicola with a query letter in it, you should have also received an email from TBA@thebentagency.com with an explanation of the situation. If you didn't get that letter, please check your spam folders as it appears to be going into spam for some folks, but it reads as follows:

"On 30 June 2024, the Bent Agency experienced a cyberattack that affected Nicola Barr’s email account, and her email client sent you a submission that she received from a querying author.

The Bent Agency is working with an IT security consultancy to find a remedy for this attack, but in the meantime, we have shut down Nicola’s computer, informed the querying author of the incident, and reported the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office as a breach of personal data under the Data Protection Act 2018 (UK).

We apologise that this information was shared with you. Please delete the email you received from Nicola on 30 June 2024 and any further emails you may receive with the same content. Thank you."

For those people who have received an email purporting to be from Nicola, I have seen the following information on the agency submissions page, and wonder if this is connected?

'PSA:

There are people impersonating TBA agents via email and on Facebook.

If you're concerned you may have been approached in a fraudulent way, please contact info@thebentagency.com.

No TBA agent will ever ask for money from prospective clients or charge a reading fee.'

@stellamae: See, I never got that email, I am getting back-to-back emails from Nicola barr with the query letter. This doesn't sound like a cyberattack because what would the perpetrator gain here? I am finally using my degree in forensics. That's why I'm skeptical.

UPDATE: It was flagged as spam by Google. Thanks @stellamae!