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Skype interview.. scam, or no?
So I received an email from a person saying they found me on model mayhem, and asked about my rates for a 3-5 hour shoot. They said it was a fixed rate of $500 and the shoot would take place in NYC and hotel fee and airplane expenses would be paid.. I asked to see their Model Mayhem and I asked to see their facebook.. no response but they said they want to skype with me because they always skype models before booking them so they can see how they look in comparison to their portfolio. They said they work in fashion marketing and are not the photographer themselves.. they also said it is a paid test shoot for www.ukbeachwear.com. Should I even waste my time with a skype interview tonight, or is this a definite scam? Feb 03 14 02:49 pm Link The first 4 lines said SCAM Ask these questions to yourself: How did they get my email address? Why would they pay me $500 AND pay travel expenses? Why won't they tell me who they are, their MM #, or even answer my questions? Chances are they'll get you on Skype and try to talk you out of your clothes. Feb 03 14 02:53 pm Link courtney virginia wrote: It' a scam. Feb 03 14 02:54 pm Link Danielle Reid wrote: That's exactly what I figured ha. Thanks, just wanted to double check Feb 03 14 03:00 pm Link I don't use skype, but if you can record it, it might possibly help. Recording crimes is a memorialized light for justice. Feb 03 14 03:01 pm Link Danielle Reid wrote: Bingo! Scam all the way! Feb 03 14 03:06 pm Link Scam just from the first few bits. UKBeachwear is owned by Jonathan Barber and uses an in house marketing department for their parent company (Web Shop Direct Limited) no 3rd party "agency" should be contacting models. Feb 03 14 03:07 pm Link Take your e mail off your MM port. L2 Feb 03 14 03:13 pm Link Emailing you doesn't automatically make it a scam, there are people who don't have modelmayhem accounts that still browse the site looking for people to book. Booking you through your email is not shady by itself, you just have to do a little more legwork to figure out who they are. I had plenty of people book me directly through my email. Some of which had MM accounts but just preferred email to MM messages. What IS shady is someone being unwilling to give you information about themselves. They might not have an MM or a FB account, but they've got to have something SOMEWHERE. Skyping is also not shady, per se, a lot of businesses and professionals are catching on to the benefits of Skype calls. Nearly all of my professional wedding vendors wanted to skype with me, for instance, they consider it a highly convenient way to have a "face to face" and personal conversation, to make their clients feel more connected than an email or phone call allows. I hate it, but it's becoming the norm in the real world. For modeling, It gets shady when they ask you to take your clothes off or "practice modeling" or something on camera. It should be used as a way to have "face to face" conversation without having to leave the house, not a free show. You shouldn't have to perform any task they wouldn't ask you to do in a public coffee shop. As Danielle pointed out, the scam parts are that they wouldn't tell you any info about themselves, and they're going to foot a huge bill for you when they could easily get someone local for much less. We all want to believe that we're super special and in those instances, we think "they're doing it because they need ME"... But the reality is that we're all *pretty* replaceable, especially as the costs to work with us go up. The guy out in the middle of nowhere might need to fly his talent in, the guy in NYC can just go out onto the sidewalk and grab any tall pretty girl. Feb 03 14 05:19 pm Link  You've gotten some great feedback in this thread. There are certainly times when a Skype interview could be legitimate. I have done them myself when a model has been too far away to meet in advance. On the other hand, this has a LOT of red flags. Kudos for taking the time to ask here and kudos to everyone that gave good, meaningful replies. Feb 03 14 07:32 pm Link OMG, I was contacted by the same person! If you ask him to send you an email from said ukbeachwear.com, you will get a spoofed email from that domain. So he's totally a fake. Just avoid him. Tell him Katerina Marie told you to stay away, because he's a stupid scammer. Feb 03 14 07:43 pm Link Katerina Marie wrote: Noticing that both you and the OP have your profiles visible to non-members and also have email addresses posted/easily found (and for anyone doing that), I would certainly be extra cautious of scammers, because it would seem to be making it that much easier for them to find you and contact you. Feb 03 14 07:47 pm Link If you have even the slightest doubt, then walk away, as the first impression is usually the right one....or could it be the second impression?......or the third?...."Well I know it has to be one of them"  Feb 03 14 07:52 pm Link The scammers motto... "Never say die" Be careful! Feb 04 14 07:37 am Link |
