The federal indictment involves PageTurner, a purported book publishing business in Chula Vista that prosecutors say victimized more than 800 people from September 2017 until last month. Authorities are also seeking more victims of the alleged email and phone scam.

The phone calls and emails from the supposed literary agents came in cold and usually targeted elderly, self-published authors, with promises of turning a book into a best-seller or optioning the story to become a Hollywood blockbuster or streaming series.