Scams

In the modeling industry it is vital to be aware that not all modeling agencies or agents are legitimate. There are numerous scams going on that you must be extremely cautious of.

Many agencies make unfulfilled promises that you will get loads of modeling jobs and even charge fees for signing contracts or for photos. But more worryingly than this some people claiming to be modeling agents use young models photos in an inappropriate and dreadful manner.

They may even be a previous sex offender posing as a different person. It is therefore extremely important that some of these dreadful scams and real life stories are brought to your attention.

It was printed in The Boston Globe that a modeling agency in Boston, namely, the Marvel Models of Boston was not licensed to operate in the state of Massachusetts. Edriss Farazi had never applied for his license because he had been convicted of assault, was a level 2 sex offender and had been on probation since February 2003. He dishonestly scammed young aspiring models into paying fees but they never got any modeling jobs.

It was also reported that a 57 year old man named Gregg Barry Mayes from Michigan was at the head of a modeling scheme whose aim it was to sexually assault young models. He managed to carry out this dreadful scheme by leading a double life. He was charged with inappropriate groping a 17 year old Lansing girl.

There was also a scam operation carried out in a small town called Oregon. The claimed to be a Los Angeles based company looking for models for their advertising campaign. They advertised their intentions in a local newspaper and told applicants to send in pictures of themselves. The company shortlisted people from these and said that they had been successful. They even created fake paperwork stating that they would pay for everything except the make up artist which would cost $500. The applicants who were obviously delighted forwarded the cheques on to the company who miraculously disappeared.

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