Warning Signs of the Modeling Agency Scams

1. Warning Signs of the Modeling Agency Scams Below are the Child Actor LA scam prevention guides for you by the experts at Child Actor LA. Talent Scouts doesn't operate in malls (usually) One way scammers operate is to say the same "you got the look" speech to a lot of different girls in the mall. They will typically wait until the first potential victim is out of earshot before repeating the speech to someone else though. If you have heard the speech, smile, take the card, leave, and then try to observe the scout from afar and see how many girls he said the same thing to. If he approached several more girls, he's probably scamming. Making Appointments to meet on Weekends and Odd Hours The modeling business is actually a very strict 9-5 Monday-Friday business. Shoots can happen at any time, but an actual modeling "open call" where the agency meets new talent with no appointment is done during business hours. If they are doing a meet and greet during off-hours, chances are this is not a real modeling agency.

2. Photographer's Fee / Portfolio Fee A common modeling scam is known as the Photo Mill Agency, where the agency actually doesn't book any jobs (or very few jobs), but instead just sells the prospective models their own portfolios (which the agency should have provided for free or at cost) They get you to show up, charge you money, keep you waiting so you can convince yourself to go through with it, then charge you big bucks. Requiring an Exclusive Agency Photographer Any legitimate agency would allow any professionally taken pictures. Any agency requiring the use of their "exclusive" photographer is likely a scam, even if the photographer may be a legitimate guy. Somebody is getting a kickback (i.e. padding the bill). Not Accepting Credit Cards If they only take cash or money order, that means no refund, no dispute, and no paper trail on where the money actually went. When any professional can get a Square or Paypal reader linked to a commercial checking account, not having one practically screams "Beware!" Keeping Someone Waiting Till Closing Time

3. You're kept waiting as sort of psychological manipulation (think of it as isolation cell in a jail, except you got in voluntarily) so you can think about how you don't want to waste the time and effort to come out here again (sunken cost fallacy), and the monetary cost seems somehow secondary. Talking About a Modeling School If the "agency" keeps pushing you to go to a specific modeling school, it may be a scam as they are probably getting a kickback from the school to steer you that way. Talking About Potential Big Gains, but Not Risks Modeling, even for established models, is intermittent, not constant. So "big money" may be true for one job, but you may spend weeks, months, even YEARS without another job. Talking About Having Worked with Company X on Project Y A lot of fake agencies simply lie about who they placed with what companies on what job, to convince you to pay up. Find time to call up the company's PR department and check if they really did work with this agency. A real agency should be happy to provide you with verifiable references. Getting Angry If You Express Any Hesitation

4. If you show any hesitation about paying them a photographer's fee or deposit, you're told you seriously lack "commitment" and you should "stop wasting time" and not "miss the opportunity." Claiming They Don't Know When They Will Be Back Real modeling agencies hold open call about once a month. Not always on the same week or day, but about once a month. Pressing You to Decide Now or Never One last bit of time pressure is applied when they claim the photographer will purge the pictures, thus making the entire day a waste of time. This is to push you into buying the worthless pictures for vastly inflated amounts.