Like with any industry/business, the entertainment one has it's share of scammers. We usually associate scammers and Hollywood with lurid fantasies about the casting couch and sweet, young gullible wannabe starlets. That may still happen here and there, however there are other more insidious scammers who readily take advantage of the wild wild west known as the internet.
It takes a judicious red flag system to know when you are falling into not an acting job but a scammer job. While some are obvious, like the "agents" who promise you jobs, yet in reality want your $500, because, this is something a real agent does not do. Craigslist can also be a breeding ground for scammers although I've actually found some work through it. It's the red flags like asking you for money upfront, wanting you to send them personal information before an audition, or asking for headshots...or maybe just a little bit more!
The few times I've been on the road to scamtown I've been able to avoid any loss of money or pride by looking out for those red flags. Even though Craigslist may be easy to pick on, if you are applying for auditions through a legitimate clearing house, scammers are lurking there, too. Let me tell you a story how I almost got scammed. I was using one of my audition clearing house sites and came across something interesting to apply for an audition. It was a one day commercial shoot at the beach and the pay was a flat buyout of $300. I sent a request and within the hour got a reply e-mail (not that unusual because the shoot date was only a few days off) which asked for a slightly red flag request. Could I send a photo of me wearing a towel as if I was at the beach? I thought "why not, no skin off my back" (so to speak) and I knew I could come up with a funny photo. Here it is:
I figured if they weren't scared off by this photo, they'd laugh and schedule me an audition. Well, they did respond a couple of hours later via e-mail waving a red flag that (one would hope) even the wannabe starlet would see. They wanted yet another photo, but this time they wanted me in a swimsuit, as they put it, "fully aroused". After I had myself a laurel and...hearty laugh, I sent them off an e-mail sans any photo attached. "Are you really that hard up you'd want to see a middle aged guy wearing a swimsuit with a hard on?"
I never received another e-mail from them.
It takes a judicious red flag system to know when you are falling into not an acting job but a scammer job. While some are obvious, like the "agents" who promise you jobs, yet in reality want your $500, because, this is something a real agent does not do. Craigslist can also be a breeding ground for scammers although I've actually found some work through it. It's the red flags like asking you for money upfront, wanting you to send them personal information before an audition, or asking for headshots...or maybe just a little bit more!
The few times I've been on the road to scamtown I've been able to avoid any loss of money or pride by looking out for those red flags. Even though Craigslist may be easy to pick on, if you are applying for auditions through a legitimate clearing house, scammers are lurking there, too. Let me tell you a story how I almost got scammed. I was using one of my audition clearing house sites and came across something interesting to apply for an audition. It was a one day commercial shoot at the beach and the pay was a flat buyout of $300. I sent a request and within the hour got a reply e-mail (not that unusual because the shoot date was only a few days off) which asked for a slightly red flag request. Could I send a photo of me wearing a towel as if I was at the beach? I thought "why not, no skin off my back" (so to speak) and I knew I could come up with a funny photo. Here it is:
I figured if they weren't scared off by this photo, they'd laugh and schedule me an audition. Well, they did respond a couple of hours later via e-mail waving a red flag that (one would hope) even the wannabe starlet would see. They wanted yet another photo, but this time they wanted me in a swimsuit, as they put it, "fully aroused". After I had myself a laurel and...hearty laugh, I sent them off an e-mail sans any photo attached. "Are you really that hard up you'd want to see a middle aged guy wearing a swimsuit with a hard on?"
I never received another e-mail from them.
