Due to the increase in prospective models being misled a number of top agencies have teamed up to make any potential models aware of the scams perpetrated by bogus firms.

London, England, 11^th Dec, 2010 – A number of leading modelling related websites lead by UK Models have declared war on the bogus modelling and casting agencies by highlighting and publicising some of the more common scams used to extract money and trust from unsuspecting victims.

A representative from one of the leading modelling agencies says, ‘The problems caused by these bogus operators are in fact double tiered, not only do they fleece prospective models out of their hard earned money but also give the industry a bad name. We decided it was time to take some action and what better way than to publish scam related information on our website. The more people we can reach out to who heed our advice the less heartbreak that will be caused.’

The modelling industry as a whole is a very fickle one and in recent years a number of unscrupulous operators have been using the internet in order to attract prospective models. The consultations when arranged usually end up costing the potential model a substantial amount of money and unfortunately when the scam comes to light the bogus agency and their representatives are long gone.

The representative goes onto say, ‘The main problem with these bogus agencies is that they can be very hard to identify for the uninitiated. More often than not they will have the casting sessions in an exclusive hotel and basically operate under a facade of respectability. The only way to avoid this type of UK models scam is to read up in advance. We would strongly recommend that any would be model seek independent advice from a reputable agency before attending any casting or photo session.’

Since the advent of the internet the bogus operators have found another avenue in which to exploit the young and sometimes naive. They will often target their victims via Social Networking sites and perhaps make false promises or fill the person with unattainable expectations.

The representative concludes by saying, ‘Reputable modelling agencies will rarely target social network users so we recommend extreme caution if approached through this medium, the basic rule of thumb remains the same, if it appears too good to be true then it probably is.’