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I woke up this morning to find that I was scammed by an ACX "producer." My book, which had been comp

I woke up this morning to find that I was scammed by an ACX "producer." My book, which had been completed and was in the queue for publication was flagged as being a product of text-to-speech software. I suspected at a point that that might be the case. But I like what was being created. My story is about AI, and the voice worked for me. Anyway, as the whole thing unraveled, I found out I'd been scammed. The funny thing is, there were pages of correspondence between me and this producer. Whoever they were, they were putting in a lot of work to scam me out of a few hundred bucks. Weird. For the benefit of others, here's what I wrote to ACX. Scammers aside, I think the ACX system could use improvement.

Dear ACX,

I am very disappointed and upset to learn that my audiobook, Stones of
Abraham, has been removed.

I began this process at the suggestion of a friend of mine, who is also an
ACX producer. Acting in good faith, I went through the process of claiming
my title, setting up my project and searching for a producer.

After selecting a producer, I went through a nearly month-long process of
reviewing chapters, sending revisions, and reviewing updates. Finally, I
approved the finished book and, in compliance with the ACX system, sent
my final payment. Now, I am learning that all that work and money was for
nothing. So, apparently, I was ripped off!

In my opinion, the ACX system is seriously flawed. It is being used to
perpetuate fraud and does not serve its customers.

1] I should not only be finding out now that my producer was a fraud. ACX
should vet its producers beforehand. Michelle B. (my producer) was
presented as a legitimate producer. She had audio samples. If she was using
text-to-speech software, that should have been detected when she submitted
those samples.

2] Nowhere on the top level Getting Started pages is it stated that
text-to-speech software is prohibited. I can understand this policy, and
apparently, I allowed myself to be deceived. But to bury that information
in the bowels of your website is not good business practice. It should be
stated in BIG BOLD LETTERS on the Find Talent page that text-to-speech
software is prohibited. I was new to this process and I feel that, as an
author, I was not being cared for as a customer.

3] The payment system ACX has set up is fundamentally flawed. Having the
author remit payment directly to the producer via a third-party payment
system is wrong. ACX should have its own escrow-like payment system set up
(like eBay) where funds are not released until the product is approved.

So, that's my vent. Caveat emptor!

Date of experience: Apr 16, 2026