|
|
We're now on Facebook - Add us! |
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
 This is an actual check that a model member received - our warning saved her over $20,000 in financial loss! It's called a "419 Scam", "Fake Check Scam" or "Advance Fee Scam". This scam is totally old and has gone by many names, including the above as well as the "Money Mule" scam, etc. Before this was so prevalent in the modeling industry, this sort of scam was more widespread with fake offers of insurance payouts, trust funds or inheritances. 99% of the time, you will be contacted by email from a person with a free email service such as Yahoo, even though they claim to be from a major company. They will tell you that they are going to send you a large amount in the form of a check and will ask you to take your portion out (usually a few hundred) and immediately send the rest via Western Union to a "wardrobe stylist" or other supposed member of the production team. The scammers usually don't have a membership anywhere, and they LOVE to troll profiles on Model Mayhem and even our network as we allow you to post your email address in the open. We do not suggest this - keep your email out of your profile and you will see this scam drop immensely in your inbox. You may receive a check very similar to the one above - one which looks almost perfectly real. These are usually printed on check stock that has the security measures like watermarks, etc. These will be drawn on a fake account, and a simple call to the issuing bank will expose the fake check. If they send a check and you tell them "fuck off, it's fake" or whatever, they may threaten you that visitors are coming to your door, etc. They may even threaten you with an FBI visit. No worries, they are bluffing and you will not be visited by anyone. They will just go to the next victim with the same scam. We did a study: 95% of all models we polled who have a Model Mayhem profile with an email address listed will receive this scam email. There are a few dead giveaways on these scams. And, believe me, we did our research! Look for the following: 1) Look for a subject line that is usually ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and says something like "FHM JOB OFFER" or "COMPLEX MAGAZINE JOB OFFER" 2) Look for the greeting "Dear Model", "Admired Model", or "Esteemed Model" - they will almost never address you by name 3) The first sentence will almost always include "My name is __________, and I am a freelance modeling agent..." 4) They will almost always have a free email service, such as Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail, even though they supposedly represent a major company 5) They will offer you a large amount of money even though they have never even spoke to you 6) Look for poor grammar, misspellings, and other errors in the email that a true "professional" would not make Last but not least - you can always use the support function once logged in and have us screen any suspicious email! |
|
|
