Probably one of the biggest and most successful scams in the modelling industry, is people being conned out of sums between £50 to £500+ by bogus casting and model agencies. These outfits typically set up in hotel conference rooms over a weekend running 'casting seminars'. They have very catchy names and appear to be totally genuine. Victims are persuaded to part with money upfront to be represented by that particular casting agency, with the promise that the casting agency will take some pictures and find the hopeful at least one agency which will offer them a contract, and if this doesn't happen within a set period of time the money paid will be refunded. Sounds too good to be true and frankly it is! The double whammy comes when the applicant, having already paid a large sum of money to the casting company/agency, is then offered a contract by an agency. What they don't realise is this 'agency' is probably owned by the same outfit that ran the seminar, and they also want a fee upfront. Genuine agencies will only take on people that they believe they can find work for, and do not ask for any joining fees upfront. They may charge a modest fee for listing on their website or the supply of model cards, but this is almost always deducted from assignment payments once work has been found. The rule to follow here is never, ever pay an agency anything to be put onto their books, no matter how they dress it up (they may tell you it's a registration fee, admin fee, website profile charge, to purchase z-cards or a myriad of other seemingly plausible reasons) Think about it, if an agency receives a large income by charging fees upfront for doing virtually nothing, why should they bother to find you any work?

You see a post on a networking site, or receive an unsolicited email, similar to this (copied verbatim, note the bad spelling and poor grammar):

"Hello
I am currently looking to hire a Model for a Fashion Catalog Shoot, one of my major clients is very eager to update her Catalog with her new year Fashion outfits release. This has brought my endeavor to meet with various agencies and my frantic effort searching on the internet for a perfect model that will

Our first shoots will include, shoots on cars, motorbikes, and shoots with some musical artists. 12 different Fashion outfits put-together will be on the list of costumes needed for the shoots. Be informed, that we intend to use most of the pictures in our first catalog launch and our new calendar for year 2010. Regarding the Wage aspect, you will be paid the sum of $1500 upfront and we hope you will make this photo shoot a great one through commitment and diligence.
For more information, kindly contact the director [name of company] by email only. Thanks for your co-operation, and we looking forward to having you in our first job."

The shoot is usually offered with an absurdly high rate of pay (typically $2000-$5000). After you've shown interest and been 'booked' you'll receive a message shortly before the shoot is meant to happen saying it's been delayed due to technical/unforseen circumstances, but they have another booking they can offer you. Because it's such short notice you'll have to send them the money for your travel tickets etc, but don't worry, you'll be reimbursed. Not wishing to miss out on the opportunity, you transfer the cash to them, and never hear from them again.

Similar to the non-existent fashion shoot. You receive an email from someone purporting to be a professional photographer who has a client looking to update a catalogue, usually offering a fee of several thousand pounds. If you reply, you receive several more emails with too-good-to-be-true claims, and eventually one informing you the project has been delayed, but offering you alternate shoots, usually in foreign destinations. As it is at short notice you are asked to send money to pay for your travel to the shoot, with the promise that all expenses will be reimbursed on arrival. In reality, this is the last you will see of your money and there is no photographer and no shoot.

A more recent scam is bogus photographers preying on girls via modeling or social networking sites like Facebook, Purestorm etc claiming to be working for or have contracts with reputable magazines (like Nuts, Loaded, FHM, Maxim). They will sometimes ask you to undertake a 'casting' via webcam or provide sample topless or nude images. The vast majority (if not all) of these publications only use in-house photographers, and never use third parties. The intention of these scammers is to obtain images for their own sexual gratification, or for upload to porn sites.

You reply to an advert in a newspaper or on a website, and later receive a call saying you've been accepted onto the agencies books - often without them having seen what you look like! The caller then tells you they need some professional photographs to show potential clients and, due to copyright issues, these need to be taken by their in-house photographers (the website sometimes says you can use photos from other sources, but then goes on to give a list of exclusions, making virtually all photos unacceptable). The purpose is to persuade you to part with a large amount of money (often between £500 and £1500) for a worthless set of photographs. Never part with large sums of money upfront for a portfolio package. Genuine agencies do suggest test shot photographs to get a portfolio started, but these are not expensive (usually around £100-£150) and are only needed until the model starts to get assignments. Some agencies may offer to pay for your test shoot and recoup the money from your earnings. Always check how much they want for doing this, as it's not unknown for them to charge a fortune on top of the original cost of the shots. A real professional portfolio should consist of a series of test shots taken by different photographers on different days in different locations and in different styles, along with working shots collected once assignments have been undertaken - not a load of pictures all taken by the same person in one location wearing the same outfit, which will all look the same to the professional eye.

Beware of agencies who insist that to be accepted you must sign up for one of their model training days costing around £200+. You cannot learn to catwalk professionally in one day, and therefore you would not be fully trained after that one expensive day. Often this is the only income the agency has and they do little else for you once you have attended the course and paid. This is not how genuine agencies work.

You are contacted by an agent asking you to enter a competition, but there is a fee to enter, or a fee to have "suitable" photos taken. There have also been instances where an agency will only enter the model if they sign up and pay a fee to be represented for 3 years. This is not how genuine model agencies or magazines run their model competitions. Beauty Pageants are a different thing, entrants need a sponsor who pays a fee, which is used towards the cost of holding such a large event and the prizes involved.

It can be very flattering when someone offers to take your picture or do a photographic shoot for you for nothing, but remember that you don't truly get anything for nothing. Whilst a lot of genuine photographers may offer to do a shoot on a TFP/TFCD basis and this can be a good way of obtaining images to start or update your portfolio, sadly there are also many fake photographers who offer free shoots with ulterior motives. See also Pampering/Makeover Sessions, below.

Often these are offered as a competition prize on a website. You enter, and several weeks/months later youare contacted saying that you've won a free photoshoot complete with makeover/pampering. The session consists of a visit to a studio, where you are given complimentary drinks, your hair and makeup is done, and there may be a range of outfits available to wear. You will then have a number of photo taken. All sounds good so far, doesn't it? In reality virtually everyone that enters wins. Why? Read on.... The whole session is actually a high-pressure sales activity, designed to persuade you to pay a lot of money (often hundreds of pounds) for the photos they have just taken. They are very persuasive and don't take no for an answer without a battle. If you persist on saying No, they may drop the price or offer you  a 'special deal'. They have often been known to offer credit agreements as a means of payment too. Best advice is to steer clear.

Many new models are so excited at the prospect of being accepted onto an agencies books that they sign contracts without reading them carefully. You should never sign a contract without taking it home and reading every bit of it very carefully. Be sure that you fully understand what each clause (paragraph) of the contract means and how it might affect you before you even consider signing it. Think about how the contract might stop you going elsewhere should you decide to leave the agency or how it will affect you if you end up in a dispute with them. Remember - if you sign a contract the Law states that it is legally binding, even if you signed it without reading it first. Many many models work for agencies without ever having signed a contract, so don't be in a rush to sign one yourself!

Being asked to sign a model release form is not unusual in itself. The photographer owns the copyright of photos he/she has taken of you. When you do the shoot, you may be asked to sign a release form agreeing to him/her using the images as he/she wishes, including selling your images to other interested parties. if you have been paid for the shoot, it is not unusual for the release form to have a clause stating that you will not receive a share of any sale proceeds. All of the above is perfectly legitimate, but you should never sign a model release form without reading it first and knowing how it affects you (any decent agent would have checked this for you). Some unscrupulous agents have been known to have taken pictures of models themselves, then got the model to sign a very alarmingly worded model release form, which allows the agent to use those pictures in whatever publication they choose, without asking or making any forrm of payment. Be very careful and make sure that you read and understand the implications before you sign!

Incidentally, did you know that you do not have the right to sell photographs yourself unless the photographer has specifically given you permission to do so. You are also not automatically entitled to put the pictures up on any public forum, networking site or even on your own website without the photographers permission. Sample model release form (links to http://www.professionalphotographer.co.uk)