How to avoid scams
By Russ Freeman, written 1455545100
Scams are an unfortunate reality in any industry, with scam artists preying on innocent hopefuls. Predators seek naivety in aspiring models who have little experience working in the industry and may accept a role or opportunity that is not legitimate.
General advice
The PurplePort Admin Team work hard to prevent the individuals who operate these scams from getting on site. However, this is difficult and never a guaranteed process, meaning that some of them do get through. If you suspect another member is involved in operating a scam, please report them immediately to us by contacting the Admin Team via support ticket. For more information about how to report problems, see A Quick Guide for Reporting Issues.
Remember that we recommend you keep all communications on site as this makes it much easier for us to follow up on any potential scams or wrongdoing. We also strongly discourage anyone from working or communicating with someone that has been removed from PurplePort as there is always a good reason for their removal.
If it looks to good to be true then it is
If someone offers you £200 an hour for a week of modelling in the Bahamas then sadly it's not your lucky day. It's a carrot being dangled in order to scam you in some way. If it is too good to be true, please report it to us so we can investigate.
Example:
Hey there I'm looking for models to endorse new product on social media accounts and will get paid £220 for a weekly post. It is a teeth whitening product so ideally would need to use it but full details will be given.
If interested register to take part at http://www.alpha-casting.com/4634733 we'll be in touch.
Thanks
Trying to get you off-site straight away
In almost 100% of the attempted scams that we see on PurplePort the scammer will attempt to move communications off the site as early as possible.
Example:
Hi,I am ***** ****.I am seeking for a natural talented model for a two days fashion promotion photo shoot.If you are interested,reply to **********@outlook.com as soon as you can for more details about the shoot.
Warm regards,
****.
or:
My name is ***** ****** and seeking to hire for fashion promotional prints only models to help promote new fashion designs through calendars and fashion catalogs.......Do indicate interest by sending an email with your contact number to ********@hotmail.com .Thanks
or:
Hi. I am representing ifONLY FASHIONS and we are looking to hire promotional models to help promote our fashion line through print work and fashion shows. For more indicate interest by sending email to ********@outlook.com
Thanks
The actual scams being operated by these individuals may differ, but it is not difficult to see the similarities in their initial approach.
- Generic and sparse on details
- Use of a free email provider (such as Outlook, yahoo or Hotmail) despite claims of working at a high level within the industry and representing a well known company
- Attempting to get you off site straight away
You may also notice that the name given on their account, email address, and signed at the bottom of the message are not all using the same name.
Types of scam
Cashing (Counterfeit) Cheques
A common scam operated where someone wishes to arrange or discuss a shoot with you in which you are required to receive a cheque (either for payment or towards fees of some kind) to cash in and then send funds back to the original person. For example, you are asked to cash a cheque for £1,200 and send £800 back whilst keeping £400 within a set time period.
Example:
Hi,
My name is **** and i am seeking to hire for fashion promotional prints only models to help promote new fashion designs through calendars and fashion catalogs.........Do indicate interest by sending an email with your contact number to ******@gmail.com
Thanks.
Its a paid job.
Best Regards,
****.
Once the cheque has been paid in and you return some funds back to the other person, you then discover that the cheque sent to you was counterfeit and you are now out of pocket.
Brand Name Scam (e.g. Lucozade Sport)
Although the most common company we have seen used for this is Lucozade Sport, this is not the only company used and the name can be substituted for another quite easily.
Scam artists try to be clever by posing as a reputable organisation or company. It is important to note that the companies are in no way associated with these individuals. This scam is about getting money from you and is a variation on the 419 Scam or “advance-fee” scam. More information on that here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam
Example:
Hello ...I'm Catalina, one of the model supervisor for LUCOZADE SPORT DRINK. LUCOZADE SPORT DRINK is giving out opportunity to just 10 upcoming Models for a trial photo shooting by extending their advertisement Catalog, .So if you are interested in modeling , your photos will be posted on billboards, magazines in CANADA, UK, US. Please let me know if you are interested in this position. For starters, you would get a payment of 550 Pounds for MUA and Stylist Arrangement.
Photo shoot Brand: LUCOZADE BOOST
Location: In your City
Contact Name: Lana
Get back to me at (danny******@hotmail.com) for more information.
Catalina
Firstly, as much as we would love it if they did, large companies such as Lucozade don’t use sites like PurplePort for their castings - they go through agencies. If they were using our service, believe us when we say we would be shouting about it and making sure all our members were aware of the opportunity. Also note the use of a free Hotmail email address, the name for which is “danny” despite the message coming from “Catalina” and the contact name being “Lana”. Finally, £550. We aren’t sure why but this is a very common figure in the scams and one we see time and time again. The payment normally takes the form of either cheques or travellers cheques.
The Webcam Interview
Another fairly common scam is being asked to take part in a webcam interview. With this, the individual is not attempting to scam you financially, but instead trying to get you naked on camera for their personal gain.
If you are asked to do a webcam interview through Skype, FaceTime, or any kind of video messenger, it is most likely nothing more than an attempt to get naked on camera. You should cease all communications with this person immediately, and if this person is on PurplePort you should report them to us by contacting the Admin Team via support ticket.
Suggestive Photographs of Yourself
Similar to the webcam interview, the individual may ask you to to connect with them on Facebook or email and request that you send through semi nude/nude images of yourself so that they can see if you meet their requirements. This individual is purely trying to get photos of you for their own personal gain.
Photographers are able to see what you can offer from your portfolio. There is no need for additional images to be sent privately, and especially not nude images or selfies. If this person is on PurplePort you should report them to us by contacting the Admin Team via support ticket.
How PurplePort deal with scams
If someone has been removed from PurplePort it will be for a very good reason. Sometimes we can spot a scammer and remove their account straight away, otherwise we rely on other members to report suspicious activity (such as messages) to us.
You can tell that someone has been removed by us because the link to their profile will redirect to you to a page saying:
Account removed
**** has been removed from PurplePort because they were attempting to scam the membership.
Also, the following text will appear below the text box in any message exchanges you have with them:
**** has been removed from PurplePort because they were attempting to scam the membership. We strongly suggest you cease all communications with them.
We always strongly suggest that you cease all communications with any members who have been removed from PurplePort. This means if you are in talking to them via email, social media, text, etc, that you stop this immediately.
PurplePort Admin won't ask for your login details
The PurplePort Admin Team (or other PurplePort Team members) will never contact you directly via email, Facebook or any other social media, nor will we ask for your login details or password (as we don't need it).
Anyone asking for these details should be reported immediately to us (see below). We may ask you to contact us on Facebook using our official Facebook page, but we won't make direct contact with you outside of PurplePort.com.
How to report a scam
Whether you are you 100% sure that a scam is being operated by another member, or you are not sure but have a feeling they could be operating a scam, please do report this to us as soon as possible. You can do this by either :
- Report Profile by viewing the member's profile page and from the grey cog click "Report this profile"
- Report Message by viewing the message and clicking the "Report" button at the bottom
- Contacting the Admin Team via support ticket straight away
Please note that if someone has already been removed from PurplePort due to a scam, then there is no need to report them. For more information about how to report members, see A Quick Guide for Reporting Issues.