Intro Talent Contest Scam - p.1 Modeling School Scam - p.2 Talent Agency Scam - p.3 Updates

The Modeling School Scam
(or "You, Too, Can Be Kate Moss")

If you're a modeling hopeful, don’t forget: Many are called but few are chosen. There are usually extremely rigid requirements for models — height, weight, etc. — so that you can fit into standard-size clothing. So, if you're 4'8" and a modeling agency tells you that you have potential as a runway model, a very loud alarm bell should go off in your head.

So why would a modeling agency tell you that you have potential when you don't? There's this little thing called money. If they can convince you that you have potential, they can also often convince you that in order to realize that potential you have to attend classes in their modeling schools. They try to persuade you that you can "be a model ... or just look like one" if only you pay to attend their school.

Another way that unscrupulous modeling agencies attempt to take your money — sometimes in the thousands of dollars — is to get you to pay them or their photographers to prepare a portfolio for you. More often than not, though, you end up with no modeling work and a bunch of unusable photographs. Sometimes, they even skip town before you have any photographs.

Please. Don't be the proud owner of the next broken heart or shattered dream. If you have aspirations to be a model, don’t be taken in by this kind of shyster. A reputable agency will tell you whether or not you have potential without taking your money. They won't require you to pay their photographers to put a portfolio together. They won't try to sell you modeling classes. And they'll keep clear boundaries between themselves and whatever services they might recommend.

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