emodel.com, Options Talent Group

Dear Modeling Scams,

My 18-year-old daughter (who never did modeling) was lured to an open call on a Wednesday. We were 10 minutes late, and told to return the next evening.

We had a group meeting about the company, and looked at the web site. Then they asked us to do a cat walk in the aisle of the meeting room. Next they asked to see the teeth of all under 5'7."

We then waited for an interview, and were told that only 1-2% of people are chosen as models, and not to feel bad.

After that my daughter was called in, and was told that she didn’t need an interview, because he already checked her out when she came the previous night.

There were no chairs in the room — only a desk — and when they took her measurements, the girl barely knew how.

Next, they took a snapshot in a corner of the room that we never saw. We were then told the next step was a telephone interview with headquarters in Florida, and to study the web page, and not ask questions that are on the web, or we would not pass the interview.

Basically, the interview on Friday was a scam, and suddenly they asked for $495 to get the comp card started, and we could send the pictures in 7 days.

I told them I needed time to think (this all happened in two days), and he got rude, and said, “Well, if you don’t call on Thursday, the deal is off.”

And something about he does this for a living, and there are other people interested.

On Friday he called me, and I told him I wanted more info on the company, and he said I could reapply next year.

But he is going to call again in three days. I can’t wait to tell him that I need proof of the agencies they have gotten jobs with, because I now know it’s “0.”

When I look back on things now I realize it was a big scam. The office was very small and phony looking, and the scout was shy and inexperienced. She could barely look my daughter in the face. It was all a numbers game.

Thanks for your help,

R.N.