You got a message saying you’ve been “nominated” for Who’s Who in America. Maybe it came by email, maybe as a LinkedIn message from someone claiming to be an executive there. It feels flattering, then it feels a little off, and now you’re here trying to figure out which one it actually is.
Marquis Who’s Who is a real company that’s existed since 1899, and it is not running a criminal scam. But its “nomination” messages are part of an aggressive sales funnel toward a paid membership, and separately, actual criminals do impersonate the Marquis name to steal money and personal information. Those are two very different things, and most articles on this topic blur them together.
Below, we’ll sort out exactly which situation you’re likely in, explain who Kristine McCarthy actually is, and cover the real fraud cases you should genuinely watch for.
What is Who’s Who in America?
Who’s Who in America is a biographical reference directory first published in 1899 by Albert Nelson Marquis. The modern publisher, Marquis Who’s Who, is headquartered in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, and produces several spin-off directories too, like Who’s Who in Finance and Business and Who’s Who of Professional Women.
Historically, being listed meant something. It was a curated record of genuinely notable Americans across politics, business, science, and the arts. That reputation is exactly why the name still gets used today, both by the real company’s marketing team and, less honestly, by people who have nothing to do with it.
Is Who’s Who in America a scam?
This depends entirely on which message you actually received, and it breaks into three real categories:
- A message from the actual Marquis Who’s Who company. Real, but part of a sales funnel. Not a scam in the legal sense, though a lot of people reasonably feel misled by how it’s framed. This is what most who’s who scams and who’s who scam reports online are actually describing.
- A message from a criminal impersonating Marquis. A genuine scam, marquis whos who scam and professional who’s who scam both describe this category, designed to steal your money or personal information using a name you’d recognize as trustworthy.
- A message from a different, legally separate “who’s who” company (Strathmore, Cambridge, and others). Not Marquis, not necessarily criminal, but a similar pay-for-prestige business model with its own complaint history.
Here’s why this confusion exists in the first place: the phrase “who’s who” is in the public domain. Nobody owns the trademark on those two words, so any company, legitimate or not, can legally call itself a “who’s who” directory. That single fact is the root of almost every article you’ll find about “the who’s who scam.”
Is Marquis Who’s Who legit?
Yes, as a company, marquis who’s who in america is real and legitimate. It’s not a criminal front. It has a real headquarters, a real CEO (Erica Lee), and over a century of operating history.
But “legitimate company” and “an honor you should chase” aren’t the same thing. A few things worth knowing before you take the invitation at face value, and before you go looking for marquis who’s who reviews online:
- Marquis Who’s Who is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau.
- Wikipedia’s own entry on the topic bluntly describes the modern Marquis operation as having “become a vanity publisher that lists relatively unaccomplished people who simply nominated themselves”, a real, citable characterization, not internet rumor.
- Inclusion today is largely driven by self-nomination and marketing outreach, not the curated selection process the brand’s reputation is built on.
Who is Kristine McCarthy? (The LinkedIn message, explained)
Kristine McCarthy who’s who in america is a real person with a real, verifiable job title at the real company, based in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. Kristine McCarthy Marquis is not an impersonation account or identity theft.
What’s actually happening is that this is the real company’s real, large-scale outreach strategy, sending the same “you’ve been selected to apply” message to a large number of LinkedIn users as a top-of-funnel sales tactic. It’s not personal, it’s not based on any special vetting of your profile, and it’s designed to move you toward a paid application and, eventually, a paid membership.
A large number of people online have compared notes and found they all received an identical message, which is a pretty clear sign of automated, mass outreach rather than a genuine individual nomination.
So the who’s who in America Linkedin scam framing you’ll see thrown around online isn’t quite accurate. It’s more precisely described as an aggressive, somewhat manipulative marketing tactic from a real company, annoying and arguably deceptive in tone, but not the same thing as criminal fraud.
How Does The Nomination Process Actually Work?
Your basic information goes to what Marquis calls its Submissions Department, the marquis submissions department, to use its full name, where, according to Marquis’s own claims, a percentage of applicants are told they didn’t qualify, and those who “pass” are invited to a phone interview with a New Submissions Director. Real Marquis employees have held titles like Submissions Director and New Submissions Director, and the process is real in the sense that a real person calls you.
Whether that screening is genuinely selective, or largely a formality before the sales pitch, is the real point of skepticism here. Real messages people have received follow an almost identical script: “We recently came across your profile and would like to invite you to apply for inclusion in the 2026 edition of Who’s Who in America!”.
That exact exclamation-point enthusiasm shows up again and again, which is itself a sign of a templated mass campaign rather than an individual nomination.
The Wikipedia characterization of self-nomination being the norm rather than the exception lines up with how a lot of the people who’ve received a marquis who’s who nomination letter, a marquis who’s who nomination email, a who’s who in america nomination letter, or a marquis who’s who email describe the process afterward: a friendly call, a request for your bio, and eventually, a price.
Does It Cost Money To Be Included?
It depends on what you actually want, but expect it to cost something for anything beyond the bare minimum. The Marquis who’s who in America cost if you’re comparing the full directory package, starts at effectively nothing for basic inclusion, which Marquis has stated carries no cost. Where the money comes in is everything built around that listing, a printed copy of the book, a plaque, an “upgraded” membership tier, or expanded biography features. Multiple people who’ve gone through the process describe those add-ons quickly reaching several hundred dollars.
If having your name in a printed directory matters to you for its own sake, that’s a legitimate reason to say yes. If you’re hoping it functions as a meaningful professional credential that opens doors, the honest expectation-setting is: probably not much, given how widely available inclusion actually is today.
The Real Criminal Scams: Impersonators and Fraud
Snopes investigated a specific “You Have Been Selected” email making the rounds and confirmed it was not from Marquis at all. It was created by scammers who simply signed the email with the Marquis name at the bottom. Erica Lee, Marquis’s actual CEO, has publicly acknowledged this exact problem, telling AARP that “the egregious and unscrupulous practice of claiming to be Marquis or affiliated with our organization is an ongoing issue.”
A real, documented case makes this concrete: a woman on Long Island pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges after stealing more than $1.5 million from older adults using a fake “who’s who” biographical book scheme, collecting payment information under the guise of a directory listing. That’s what an actual who’s who scam looks like, not a pushy sales call, but a criminal charge with real victims and a real prison sentence attached.
Real red flags that point to criminal fraud rather than a real company’s sales pitch:
- Urgent pressure to pay immediately, especially by check or wire transfer
- Requests for your Social Security number or full bank account details
- Poor grammar or a sender email address that doesn’t match Marquis’s actual domain
- A caller who won’t provide a callback number or company address when asked directly
Other “Who’s Who” Directories: Are They Legit?
Because the name is public domain, several other companies run their own “who’s who” style directories, and they’re worth knowing apart from Marquis specifically.
Is Strathmore Who’s Who Legitimate?
Strathmore Who’s Who Worldwide is a real, separate company based in New York, not connected to Marquis. It is not BBB accredited and carries a B- BBB rating tied to unresolved complaints, with a documented pattern of complaints about high-pressure sales calls following an initial “free” listing offer. It’s not classified as an outright criminal scam, but it follows the same vanity-publishing playbook as Marquis, sometimes more aggressively.
Cambridge Who’s Who (also marketed as Worldwide Who’s Who) follows a similar model. The now-defunct American Biographical Institute operated the same way for decades before going bankrupt in 2012, after years of being publicly criticized as a scam by consumer advocates.
The pattern across all of them is consistent: a flattering “you’ve been selected” message, a low-friction first step, and an upsell that gets more expensive the further you go.
Red Flags to Watch For, Whichever Version You Received
- Being told you’re “one of a select few” in a message that was clearly sent to a huge number of people
- Any request for payment before you’ve seen exactly what you’re paying for
- Pressure to decide quickly, especially on a phone call
- An email address or LinkedIn profile that doesn’t clearly match the real company’s actual domain
- A request for sensitive personal information (SSN, bank details) that has nothing to do with a biography
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Who’s Who in America legitimate?
As a company, yes. Marquis Who’s Who has operated since 1899 and is a real business, not a criminal operation. Its modern “nomination” outreach is an aggressive marketing tactic, though, so it’s worth treating the invitation itself with healthy skepticism.
How do you get nominated for Who’s Who?
Officially, through prior nominees, professional organizations, or Marquis staff. In practice, most people today encounter it through mass email or LinkedIn outreach rather than a genuine, individual nomination.
Do you have to pay to be in Who’s Who in America?
Basic inclusion has been described as free by Marquis, but the printed book, plaques, and upgraded membership tiers, which is where most of the marketing push is aimed, typically cost money, sometimes several hundred dollars.
The Bottom Line
If a message came from someone with a real, verifiable Marquis Who’s Who title, like Kristine McCarthy, you’re looking at an aggressive but legal sales pitch, not identity theft.
If it came from an unverifiable email address with pressure to pay quickly, especially by check or wire, you may be looking at one of the real criminal impersonators Marquis’s own CEO has publicly acknowledged.
Either way, you’re allowed to say no, ask questions before paying anything, and take your time. Genuine recognition has never required a same-day decision.
