As if the modeling world didn’t have enough scammers? Here’s one that you probably haven’t heard of yet. Its a doozy, and its easy to see why someone would fall for the set-up.
Dara; a friend who poses for me, but is not the person in this story.
A friend of mine (not included in the pictures in this post) put her profile up on a modeling website. An agency contacted her, said that they loved her photos, and that they wanted to hire her.
She’s a smart women, so she asked for details. They told her that it was nothing scandalous. It was a new company who needed a catalog, and they weren’t in town. But they were shooting in her city. No nudity.
When she agreed, this was the e-mail they sent her. See if you can spot the red flags.
Dear xxxx,
After our review we think you are can fit in for the job. Hence, We congratulate you on this job as it has been awarded to you. I have located a studio agent and I think he is capable of locating a good studio for the project.
I spoke with my client and she confirmed to me she will be mailing out the sum of $2500 after which you get the payment you will deduct $400 as your part payment and the rest balance of $2,100 will be transfered to the studio agent via western union for booking of shooting space and registering of your name with the studio. I hope you understand.
She included that Make-up, hair etc would be taken care of at the shooting studio so you don’t need to come with any make-up. Remember you can come along with anyone of your choice to the shooting location. You have 12 different fashion outfits to cover (no nudity) which would be provided by our client on the day of the shooting. Most type of clothing will be Jeans and Jackets (No nudity).
Kindly forward the below information to me if you agree with the terms of the contract. These information will be used to mail out payment to you, so ensure the validity of the Information :
* FULL NAME (AS TO BE WRITTEN ON CHECK)
* PHYSICAL ADDRESS * CITY, STATE AND ZIP CODE
* VALID TELEPHONE NUMBER (Make sure your Cell number is included)
* AGE
*HEIGHT
*ONE PHOTOGRAPH OF YOURSELF
*CLOTHING SIZE
* WORKING EXPERIENCE
* EMAIL ADDRESS
I hope all is well stated, make sure you get back in touch with
the required payment details asap.Thanks. James
Every model wants to work. And even though there is a handful of flags in this e-mail, there are so many women who want to model, and so many who are willing to suspend disbelief, that I’m sure this scam has netted “James” tens of thousands of dollars.
After all – if you’re the woman who’s the target of this – you would probably think to yourself:
“Okay… I think its a scam. But what’s the harm in letting him send me a check for $2,500, and seeing where it goes to from there?”
Which is what my friend did.
But here’s the thing. My friend is wise, and she listened to that little voice in her head. She called me and told me the story. The more she told me, the more red flags were raised in my head. So let me go through this e-mail with you, and tell you what I thought:
Dear xxxx,
After our review we think you are can fit in for the job. Hence, We congratulate you on this job as it has been awarded to you. I have located a studio agent and I think he is capable of locating a good studio for the project.
Bad syntax in an e-mail is a red flag, esp. with the use of the word “hence”. If you notice that that the sentence is reversed (a.k.a.- Yoda speech), then its someone who is not speaking in their native language.
I highlighted the words “studio agent.”
My friend Brooke, who has never been asked to work with a studio agent.
This is the first time I’ve ever heard of the term. Photographers don’t hire agents to look for their studios. We call the studios up directly. Or, better yet, we farm that out to our photography assistant.
I spoke with my client and she confirmed to me she will be mailing out the sum of $2500 after which you get the payment you will deduct $400 as your part payment and the rest balance of $2,100 will be transfered to the studio agent via western union for booking of shooting space and registering of your name with the studio. I hope you understand.
Okay… so… why are you sending the money to the model? The model that you never hired before, and have never met? And not directly to the agent?
This is not an indictment of all models, but certainly some models: why on earth would you trust the model with your financial arrangements?
Quick; make a list of people that you would trust to take care of your finances. Accountants, lawyers, and even photographers… Where does a model fall on that list?
I hope you get my point.
The part that I highlighted in that last section spoke about taking a check, cashing it, and then wiring some of the money via Western Union. I know someone who works with the Treasury department, and this is how some scams work. You cash the check. You think that you’re in the clear, because you’ve waited two days, and the bank says that the money is available. But here’s the thing: the check has not actually cleared. It will be a few more weeks before it actually clears.
In the meantime, you’ve sent cash to a stranger via Western Union. If that check bounces? You’re out the money you sent via Western Union, plus the fee for the bounced check, plus whatever it costs you to get yourself out of hock for the $2100 that you didn’t have in your checking account.
“I hope you understand.”
The last part of that section mentioned registering the model with the studio. Models don’t have to register with a studio. They can register with an agency, or test with a photographer. There is no such thing as registering with a studio.
She included that Make-up, hair etc would be taken care of at the shooting studio so you don’t need to come with any make-up. Remember you can come along with anyone of your choice to the shooting location. You have 12 different fashion outfits to cover (no nudity) which would be provided by our client on the day of the shooting. Most type of clothing will be Jeans and Jackets (No nudity).
This part is pure genius. It puts the model at ease that they aren’t being asked to do anything scandalous. “No nudity”. But there goes the strange syntax again: “Most type of clothing will be.” Its obvious that English is not this person’s native language.
Does this mean that they are not a photographer? Not at all. But it has the same syntax as many other Nigerian scams.
Kindly forward the below information to me if you agree with the terms of the contract. These information will be used to mail out payment to you, so ensure the validity of the Information :
Again, outside of the bad syntax, this part is pretty smart. It makes it sound like the scammer just wants to know how to get the money to you.
* FULL NAME (AS TO BE WRITTEN ON CHECK)
* PHYSICAL ADDRESS * CITY, STATE AND ZIP CODE
* VALID TELEPHONE NUMBER (Make sure your Cell number is included)
* AGE
*HEIGHT
*ONE PHOTOGRAPH OF YOURSELF
*CLOTHING SIZE
* WORKING EXPERIENCE
* EMAIL ADDRESS
Again, all stuff to make it sound legit. And – at the same time – they are collecting more information on you. Presumably to be able to threaten you, if you make waves.
My friend took my advice, and threw away the FedEx envelope that was sent to her. She ignored all other messages from the scammer. As my friend who is connected with the treasury assured me, there was no way that this was legit. It had all of the earmarks of a scam.
If this post saves one person money, then this was well worth it. While part of me is struck by the innovation, you can’t help but come to the conclusion that these folks are scum. They’re taking advantage of women who just want to be discovered. And the vast majority of them do not have $2,100 lying around to cover this kind of loss.