Apparently with online poker effectively banned in the United States, would-be scammers and fraudsters have turned to the poker industry instead of its players as marks. In his most recent blog post, Dusty Schmidt recounted how the poker publishing company he co-owns, Imagine Media Inc., was the victim of credit card fraud.

According to Schmidt, a person using the name James Allen –which is likely a false name—purchased a large quantity of his newest book, Don’t Listen to Phil Hellmuth, using a fraudulent credit card.

Schmidt has turned the matter over to the proper authorities, but also listed his reasons for bringing the matter to light:

“My reasons for notifying the poker community about this issue are two-fold. First off, it would only seem logical that this thief is not so infatuated with my book that he needed a massive number of copies for himself! We are operating under the assumption that the theft occurred because the person purporting to be James Allen has the intention of selling the books to a third party… Secondly, it is definitely possible that Imagine Media isn’t the only poker company that this thief is targeting. I have no knowledge of his intentions, but it seems reasonable to think that this person will attempt to strike again.”

Schmidt is asking for the poker community to keep their eyes peeled on anyone trying to sell discounted copies of the book, and it should also be noted that the book is only legitimately available at a few distinct websites.