Hi everyone,

I just joined this site a few days ago and I already received a gig invite. I messaged this user called Edward Velasquez and he? responded back by telling me to reply to a yahoo.com email address.  I did and he sent me the following email:
________________

Hello,
  How are you doing? I am happy to inform you that you are the lucky one chosen out of the few models we contacted via model mayhem. You have got all the necessary requirements we needed for an EDITORIAL photo shoot for cosmopolitan magazine.
   We hereby decided as a committee to offer you this editorial modeling paid gig. The shoot doesn't involve Nudity. The shoot will be held at a rented studio in your state and it would last for just 2 hours. The project is organized by cosmopolitan magazine basically to showcase our client's product.

Makeup artist:Meredith Baros
Photographer: Lauren Cole
Hair Stylist: Ashley Bens
Model:

project date: 13th/20th of October. Choose either 13th or 20th.
project location: We will find a good studio in your state.
project TIME: 2pm-4pm.
project contract: No contract involved.
Project paid: $500.

Payment information: A check payment of $2,450 will be mailed out to you in few days before the shoot, you'll deduct $200 for your part payment, while you'll have the remaining amount of $2,250 send off to the wardrobes manager for your wardrobes payment.Though, It's just one of the company protocols for all our potential models, and which I believed you will be trustworthy to discharged this responsibility.(You are not paying anything out of your own pocket to do this)
  Meanwhile, the remaining balance of $300 for your job will be paid to you immediately after the shoot.

Note: As soon as the wardrobes manager received the payment from you, all the wardrobes will be send out to you to check them out see if they are perfect for your size.


If you are truly interested and agreed with the above said, below are the payment and measurements information needed to apply for the job
YOUR RECENT MEASUREMENTS :
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YOUR PAYMENT INFORMATION :

(1)Name to be written on the check:
(2)Residence Address :
(3)Apt#:
(4)City, State, Zip code:
(5)Cell Phone :

ONCE YOUR INFO ARE RECEIVED, YOU WILL RECEIVE A CONFIRMATION TEXT/CALL.

Regards!
Jack
www.cosmopolitan.com
____________________

I'm concerned that this is a scam because it was not Edward that responded but Jack and also because of the "sending you a check" thing. Also it's for Cosmopolitan which is mainly women.

I don't know, what do you guys think?

One of the oldest scams on MM. You get a check, deposit it, send of money to someone else. Check bounces. You are out the money you forwarded. End of scam.

If you received the message via Model Mayhem, forward it to a Moderator.

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Also, google is your friend. This is the oldest money laundering scam in the world....

Ok, thank you everyone.

I was 99% certain it was a scam but just wanted to make sure.  Didn't want to miss out on a potential opportunity.

questions like these are not for public forums.
did you contact the moderator??
if so then be patient. hardly a week goes by without someone asking the same question here.

I just got the same email

YES, it's a scam...............No one pays you first.  Imagine how many people would not show up to work if they got paid first....LOL

its a scam........

If you feel it's a scam then it is most likely a scam.

This same thing literally just happened to me yesterday. I too felt it was a scam but wanted to be sure. I had checked google and it led me back here. Thank you guys for confirming my suspicions.

Got the same one! Who would ever give their model the responsibility of handling payments? Stupid.

Yes. There are lots of other posts exactly like this in these forums.

My thing is, if I even question if it's a scam or not good chance it is a scam. Especially if they ask for payment.

Definitely a scam! Smh I received the exact email earlier today while I was at work, but this time it was from a Troy Howard. These kinds of emails me bother me because not only is this the third kind of email, I take my modeling career very seriously and for someone to play around like that is just totally wrong.

Standard advance fee scam.  See http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud and take a look at the section discussing 419/advance fee scams.

Actually, this is a far more funny look at what is going on:

http://www.419eater.com/

Same/similar scams to the one you received, but these guys turn it around and scam the scammers....

"I have these Magic Beans for sale if anyone wants to buy them" 

Anyone working for Cosmopolitan or any respectable  magazine or Company wouldn't be using a Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail or any of those other free emails to contact anyone....that's the first "Warning Sign" you need to realize.

Ok, lets say that you were dumb enough to fall for it, like me. But you haven't gotten to the point where they send you money. What do you do?

I already sent my address. So I am expecting the check. But I sought advice for it and am going to void it and turn it in to the police. I'm just sad someone would mess with people like that. I was really excited for the opportunity.

This kind of scam does interest prosecutors. Since they're using mail and interstate wires, I'd call my local FBI office. Local district attorney would ge my second call if the Feds take a pass on it.

I got the same email, it's annoying just a cheap bastard trying to make a buck off pretty people. I correlated the email to the inboxed message and that user was no longer in existence, and if you Google Lauren cole photography it directs you to a wedding photographer in Texas. Plus $500 for an product editorial in a national magazine like cosmopolitan sounds a little low. Crossing t's and dotting i's  is just as important as posing, always fact check.

I got the same exact message and email... yesterday. I am so glad I looked this up. It felt too good to be true!

I got the same thing. Its a scam Damn it!

I got the same message and I fell for it and they are sending a check.
But I recently looked up everyone and am trying to get in touch with cosmopolitan to let them know what is going on as well. That some one is using their company's name in a scam. Maybe they can find who is doing it and possibly sue them. I don't know...

Major scam!! This has been happening for years.  Not sure what it's like in other area's of the world but in Australia you certainly would not get paid before a job! Let alone signing a contract or release before the job.

Don't let this discourage you from Model Mayhem, I have had some amazing jobs from MM and have found some extraordinary models, make up artists and stylists through here as well.

Just be careful and remember if it's too good to be true, it probably is is.

Good luck.

See my reply to an almost identical thread.

Ask yourself-in your whole life has any business ever paid you extra so you could send that money to somebody else?

Scam, but you already know that.

yes.

Ive been sent two of those scams, never answered them. Nobody should be paying you before you actually do the job.

I thought it was a legit opportunity and sent my information. I actually received a check in the mail for a little over $3,000.00 today. Im kind of concerned and asked for someone to contact me asap before we continued this. It has me kind of worried honestly.

Yeah it's a scam I received the same email

Its a goodmorning scam !!

Good morning!
  You have a nice profile! I have a paid photo shoot for you here in New York. (NO NUDE). Contact below email for the job details.

[email protected]

Regards
[email protected]