eModel.com Fraud Investigation Report

Supermodels

emodel.com claimed supermodels use emodel's services. As proof of this, they show prospective clients the supermodels on their website. It is part of the company website tour during their marketing presentations. Aspiring models are shown the web pages of the supermodels and their vital statistics before being asked to sign with emodel.

We were told during the open call that these supermodels subscribe to emodel's services and are in their network because they also want the exposure...

 

And that being in the same "network" as these supermodels would give an aspiring model like me some credibility and a fast track to a successful career. They also mentioned that these models chose to be in the emodel network because they know what's real or not.

 

The video that they show during open calls featured Christie Turlington, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell and more -- who wouldn't want to be in the ranks of them? Yeah, I fell for it.

In her article, Cashing in On Dreams of Glamour, Joanne Kimberlin wrote about the emodel presentation and sales pitch to a group of aspiring models at one of their meetings at emodel's Norfolk, Virginia franchise. Mars was the 23-year-old emodel "talent executive."

Mars gives the group a brief cybertour of the eModel Web site. He points out where the famous models are featured.

It was not only the emodel talent executive, but also the emodel franchise owner who said supermodels were using emodel.com: "Even they can always use more work."

Which supermodels could use more work? The list included Tyra Banks and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. Tyra and Rebecca are both represented by the prestigious modeling agency, IMG Models, in New York.

Nadine Johnson, the public relations representative for IMG Models, was informed of the way emodel.com was using the supermodels for promotion.

"What? This is an outrageous situation! They have no business using our girls to promote their business."

But the featured supermodels on emodel's web went much further and far beyond just Tyra Banks and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. It included:

Linda Evangelista
Amber Valetta
Claudia Schiffer
Laetitia Casta
Daniela Pestova
Valeria Mazza
Mark Vanderloo
Stephanie Seymour
Tyson Beckford
Marcus Scheckenberg
Michael Bergin
Nikki Taylor
Jodie Kidd
Naomi Campbell
Karen Mulder
Liv Tyler
Mary Cullen Weeden
Maayan Keret
Guinevere Van Seenus
Tatiana Sorokko
Nicole Beach
Nadege
Dana Patrick
Tracy Baudy
Jill Connick
Tasha
Shana
Jane Powers
Ling
Sabrina Barnett
Daria

An emodel.com senior vice president told reporter Joanne Kimberlin the emodel franchise owner must have made a "mistake." She said the supermodel pictures and information was not on emodel's website, it was an outside link. Then she said the link had been removed.

However, modelingscams.com found the supermodel pictures on an emodel website more than a month after the senior vice president said a link had been removed (see above list). There is no indication the supermodels were ever on another site, or that there ever was just a link.

emodel used a numerical address for the pictures (161.58.188.58). This allowed them to have a website without their company name. Website addresses are typically in letters (or letters and numbers), but they can also be set up in numbers only.

When 161.58.188.58 was visited by modelingscams.com, the first thing that came up was a web page entitled, "Welcome to emodel.com."

Then the exact same flash animation intro seen on emodel.com started.

Someone who heard and accepted the line about supermodels using emodel had posted in an internet forum the web addresses emodel used to present supermodels, and these all started with 161.58.188.58.

e.g.,

161.58.188.58/viewmodels/supermodels/claudia.htm

Six of the entire list were checked, and each page showed a picture of a supermodel, her vital statistics, and the agency which represented her.

e.g.,

Claudia Schiffer

Measurements: 35.5-24.5-35.5
Height: 5'11
Hair Color: blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Shoe Size: 7 1/2
Birth Date: 8/25/70
Birth Place: Dusseldorf, Germany
Agency: Elite Model Management

The use of supermodels is corroborated by a woman who publically posted her experience on October 4, 2001, in an internet forum. She was scouted by emodel.com, and said the same thing: emodel.com used pictures of supermodels as part of its commercial presentation. But first there was an evaluation.

This "evaluation" consisted of asking me what my shoe size and measurements where. They then asked me to stand on my tiptoes against the wall with my arms out. She then asked me to sit down again. The rest of the interview, about 30 minutes, was spent showing me the website. I knew what they were doing right away. This entire process was a glorified sales pitch. They showed me supermodels on their website.

The interesting thing about the story was the woman who told it said she worked in travel sales. There she was, a saleswoman by trade, receiving a sales pitch. "I work in travel sales and you can’t sell to a salesman," she said. She felt their selling techniques were illegal once she checked and found out emodel was not affiliated with the supermodels with whom they claimed to be affiliated.

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