Bonnierförlagen states for Kulturnytt that the number of fake publishers and literary agents who get in touch and want to access authors' unpublished book scripts has increased in the past six months.
Norstedts also testifies about fraudsters who tried to come across as yet unreleased titles, such as David Lagercrantz's first Millennium sequel in 2015.
Literary agencies have also been affected.
Salomonsson agency tells Kulturnytt that their name was used to get a script by the author Jo Nesbø two years ago.
The motives of the fraudsters unclear
But why the scams occur is a mystery to the industry.
- The fraudsters must believe that there is a lot of money to be made in the book industry, says the Swedish Writers' Association's chairman Grethe Rottböll.
In cases where a stolen script could be sold, it is a lump sum because the revenue from a book is long-term through sales.
- In that case, the fraud would have to last for a very long time before it is discovered, says Grethe Rottböll.
And a theft of titles from best-selling authors should be discovered and stopped almost immediately, she says.
- Then it's copyright infringement and prosecution and court.
It does not seem that they understand how the book industry works.
"No extortion attempts"
The publishers' association has nevertheless sent out information to members that the fraud is ongoing.
- We have not had to take any action because stolen scripts are circulating.
There are no kidnappings, no money and no extortion attempts.
Still, more fraudsters seem to do it this way, but we still do not know what they get out of it, says Grethe Rottböll.