There are a lot of blackmailers, swindlers and scammers in any field. However, when it comes to modelling, this primarily concerns reputation and this needs to be protected since the quality of a career directly depends on it. Here is a story from one of our subscribers who shared her unpleasant experience to warn aspiring models.
– It happened just before the New Year, December 31st. The day before, I participated in the casting of a well-known modelling competition, after which letters began and were delivered to my e-mail (quite possibly, the contact database was simply sold). They offered me take part in a video with a star with a payment of 15 thousand rubles.
I had a difficult situation with money at the time and in order to help my family I responded to the letter. They answered straight away. I was not aware that at this time companies had already left for the New Year holidays. They offered to call me on Skype for an online casting. From there everything is in a fog, some kind of hypnosis …
I was wearing a t-shirt and leggings. I was asked to strip down to my underwear or a bathing suit. I was not surprised as at castings this is common procedure. Then they wanted to see if there were any flaws on the body: scars, bruises etc.. I tried to cover my chest. At one point the connection was lost, after which I immediately understood what was wrong.
The blackmail was not long in coming. They wrote that they had downloaded all my friends from social networks and would send them the video if I didn’t pay 10 thousand rubles. Not a lot, but I knew that they would not stop at one payment. Different people wrote from different numbers, threatening and saying that they would not leave me alone even after five years.
The first mail I received was in the Summer and the video was posted to several friends. I wrote on the walls on my social networks about what happened. Friends were accepting and understanding. There were two circulations in total.
Maybe there will be more and maybe as promised, they will write in another five years. The main thing is not to accept their conditions. Yes, I made a mistake but you should not succumb to threats.
And I say to the future of new faces – never agree to any online castings and do not answer to any unverified scouts. Your best bet is to look for a good agent or parent agency to help keep track of your reputation and verify all incoming contacts.
