Model advice
Model Scams.
The skurge of the industry. updated Dec 07
THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED ON A REGULAR BASIS & INCLUDE MORE IMPORTANT ADVICE.IF YOU HAVE ANY NEWS ABOUT ANY SCAMS OR BAD EXPERIENCES PLEASE CONTACT US.
BE WARNED!!
CLOTHES SHOW LIVE 2007 is here again.
WATCH OUT FOR THE "TALENT SCOUTS?"
SCAMMERS claiming to be talent scouts (one in the past actually had a stand at Clothes Show Live,Talent Focus)
TALENT FOCUS was really just promo girls handing out cards or fliers.In some cases names were taken and you were contacted at a later date.One girl who came to us after being scammed had been charged £700 for just 14 images on a CD!Not even a print! She was approached in this manner at Clothes Show Live and was told a photographer geographically closest to her would carry out the photography.
So TALENT FOCUS are NOT a Model Agency at all!
They are in the business of sending girls to photographers and money is made by Talent Focus by invoicing the photographers for sales leads!
SOME OF THESE SCAMMERS run VERY SLICK operations.
Gone are the days when you could judge who is OK by their website or business card.These people make HUGE sums of money and as such are prepared to get the look and feel on websites/business cards to seem credible enough to charge a lot of money on the premise that the wanna be model will have her career launched by in appropriate photos that any decent Model Agency would not touch.
Alba is a site where individuals can get information on the kind of scams to avoid. All to often the local press (Shropshire Star, on many occasions) take adverts that read:- "actors, models wanted all ages"
We have made the paper aware but still they appear.
These are ALWAYS SCAMS!
NO agencies recruit in this way!
Hotel Scouting seminar warning
Beware of attending scouting seminars in your local hotels at weekends. Genuine model agencies do not find their models this way !
Model & Casting Agents & Scouting agents - setting up in Hotels !
This has to be one of the biggest cons throughout the UK in this industry. Alba has in the past received hundreds of calls from people of all ages who have been conned out of varying sums between £80 to £160 per person or per child by so called casting and scouting agencies which advertise in local free papers stating they are going to be in a town on a certain date. These agencies perform their casting seminars in different towns in various areas throughout the whole of the UK.
They usually advertise for anyone aged 0 to 70 years of age and for anyone interested in any type of modelling or entertainment work.
Often those that attend are fed the bait of a free photo shoot- well nothing comes free .
Eager members of the public of ALL ages are convinced into parting with money up front to be represented by that particular casting agency. The promise is usually that the casting agency will take some pictures to help find the hopeful at least one top agency which will offer the hopeful a contract. The promise is that if the applicant does not receive the offer of a contract from an agency within a set period of time the money paid by the applicant will be refunded.
Sounds too good to be true and frankly it is !
Sadly -the double sting comes when the applicant, having already paid a large sum of money up front to the first agency, is then offered contracts by other agencies, however, those agencies are either connected with the same persons running the seminar or they are agencies that also want a fee up front.
Having got the victim the offer from agencies wanting a fee up front also, the casting agency has on paper then met the terms of the contract signed by the victim when parting with their money- and so the victim is not entitled to get a refund.
The best way to save yourself from being stung, is:
Never pay any fee at hotel casting seminars.
All you need to send to agencies to see if they want to interview you or your child is a clear photo?
Why pay a fee for someone to find you an agency when we have genuine agencies placed here on the A list page for your to see and print off for free ? It is very sad to have to tell people that they have been stung. Many people have paid up front large sums of money for more than one child or teenager which they could have saved if they had come to Alba for information in the first place.
PLEASE go to the Alba website regularly for updates on who the CURRENT BADDIES ARE!
ALBA
The skurge of the industry. updated Dec 07
THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED ON A REGULAR BASIS & INCLUDE MORE IMPORTANT ADVICE.IF YOU HAVE ANY NEWS ABOUT ANY SCAMS OR BAD EXPERIENCES PLEASE CONTACT US.
BE WARNED!!
CLOTHES SHOW LIVE 2007 is here again.
WATCH OUT FOR THE "TALENT SCOUTS?"
SCAMMERS claiming to be talent scouts (one in the past actually had a stand at Clothes Show Live,Talent Focus)
TALENT FOCUS was really just promo girls handing out cards or fliers.In some cases names were taken and you were contacted at a later date.One girl who came to us after being scammed had been charged £700 for just 14 images on a CD!Not even a print! She was approached in this manner at Clothes Show Live and was told a photographer geographically closest to her would carry out the photography.
So TALENT FOCUS are NOT a Model Agency at all!
They are in the business of sending girls to photographers and money is made by Talent Focus by invoicing the photographers for sales leads!
SOME OF THESE SCAMMERS run VERY SLICK operations.
Gone are the days when you could judge who is OK by their website or business card.These people make HUGE sums of money and as such are prepared to get the look and feel on websites/business cards to seem credible enough to charge a lot of money on the premise that the wanna be model will have her career launched by in appropriate photos that any decent Model Agency would not touch.
Alba is a site where individuals can get information on the kind of scams to avoid. All to often the local press (Shropshire Star, on many occasions) take adverts that read:- "actors, models wanted all ages"
We have made the paper aware but still they appear.
These are ALWAYS SCAMS!
NO agencies recruit in this way!
Hotel Scouting seminar warning
Beware of attending scouting seminars in your local hotels at weekends. Genuine model agencies do not find their models this way !
Model & Casting Agents & Scouting agents - setting up in Hotels !
This has to be one of the biggest cons throughout the UK in this industry. Alba has in the past received hundreds of calls from people of all ages who have been conned out of varying sums between £80 to £160 per person or per child by so called casting and scouting agencies which advertise in local free papers stating they are going to be in a town on a certain date. These agencies perform their casting seminars in different towns in various areas throughout the whole of the UK.
They usually advertise for anyone aged 0 to 70 years of age and for anyone interested in any type of modelling or entertainment work.
Often those that attend are fed the bait of a free photo shoot- well nothing comes free .
Eager members of the public of ALL ages are convinced into parting with money up front to be represented by that particular casting agency. The promise is usually that the casting agency will take some pictures to help find the hopeful at least one top agency which will offer the hopeful a contract. The promise is that if the applicant does not receive the offer of a contract from an agency within a set period of time the money paid by the applicant will be refunded.
Sounds too good to be true and frankly it is !
Sadly -the double sting comes when the applicant, having already paid a large sum of money up front to the first agency, is then offered contracts by other agencies, however, those agencies are either connected with the same persons running the seminar or they are agencies that also want a fee up front.
Having got the victim the offer from agencies wanting a fee up front also, the casting agency has on paper then met the terms of the contract signed by the victim when parting with their money- and so the victim is not entitled to get a refund.
The best way to save yourself from being stung, is:
Never pay any fee at hotel casting seminars.
All you need to send to agencies to see if they want to interview you or your child is a clear photo?
Why pay a fee for someone to find you an agency when we have genuine agencies placed here on the A list page for your to see and print off for free ? It is very sad to have to tell people that they have been stung. Many people have paid up front large sums of money for more than one child or teenager which they could have saved if they had come to Alba for information in the first place.
PLEASE go to the Alba website regularly for updates on who the CURRENT BADDIES ARE!
ALBA
