Is your modeling agency real or is it a scam?!

Have you ever thought of modeling? Did you ever take the step? Have you ever falling in a scam agency? Well I’ve got a story for you.

Last week I was thinking about jobs. As you may know London is not a cheap place to live in. People have been telling me to go into modeling since quite a while now. I’ve not really been that interested in the idea until very recently. So I took the step, I went to look for agencies in London.

I found a modeling platform that seemed quite interesting, I filled out a form and sent my pictures. Few days later they contacted me, told me how they loved my pictures and asked me to make a photo shoot test, they would guide me and help me get signed into an agency. That sounded great so I agreed. The lady told me I had to deposit 50£ to make sure I would attend the photo shoot, I agreed.

The next day I told the whole story to a friend from London and she got scared. She told me it was probably a scam. That I shouldn’t go because they’d probably want to take a lot of money from me. I made some researches and found out it really was a sort of a scam company. They make people pay a lot of money at the end of their photo shoot, saying they would make a website and a portfolio for them for 1000-1500£ or more. If you refuse to pay they would delete every single picture and wouldn’t direct you to any agency.

After reading all that I decided to go and check it out myself. I had a wonderful day as a model, took pictures on Oxford street London and in studios, in different outfits. Had my make up artist and hairstylist for the day I felt like a proper model. At the end of the photo shoot the manager told me I had been accepted, that my pictures were superbe, made some comments about my poses and told me how I could work on them etc. It felt good until we started talking money.

She told me how much money I would earn after getting a job, 300-600£ per photo shoot. That I would get jobs easily especially now that Christmas and New year is approaching, agencies are looking for new faces blah blah blah.

If I didn’t do my researches I would have fallen for this scam. I talked to a friend of mine who also got scammed by the same agency. She accepted to pay a monthly fee of 100£. After 3 months she realized it was a scam and stopped paying but by then she’d already paid 300£ and couldn’t get refunded.

My few weeks in London already taught me a lot.

• Always do your research.
• Beware of modeling agencies online.
• You shouldn’t have to pay for an agency to make a portfolio for you. If they want you, they will invest in you. If anyone is asking for money it is probably a scam!
• Schools for modeling doesn’t exist. You pay a lot of money but you don’t get results. Beware.
•  If something seems too good to be true, do your research. It probably is.

Voila, this was all so exciting, happy I didn’t get into real trouble though. I have learnt a lot from this experience wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

There are good agencies out there. DO your research and be smart. You’ll be fine, don’t give up.

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